AmaWaterways has doubled the size of its UK team to increase brand awareness and improve relationships with the trade.

The team will be led by Jon Knight, who has been promoted from business development manager to the newly created position of national sales manager. Joanne Smithies, currently BDM for the North of England & Scotland has had Ireland added to her remit, while Rachel Simon joins as BDM for the South West & Central England.

Meanwhile, the Guildford-based reservations team has been bolstered by the arrival of Andy Burt as customer services manager and Verity Lee as river cruise consultant. The line is also currently recruiting for a business development manager for the South East of England.

In terms of the fleet, AmaWaterways is considering plans for a second double width ship, following on from AmaMagna. It is also looking at opportunities to run a programme on the Nile in Egypt.

AmaWaterways managing director Stuart Perl said: “2019 has been another exciting year for AmaWaterways with the launch of three new ships and the company’s first UK godmother.

“We continue to focus on growing our UK presence through increasing brand awareness and the development of relationships with more and more trade partners.

“We pride ourselves on being a trade-focused business with 90 per cent of our sales generated by our UK trade partners, who are the lifeblood of our business. They have had an outstanding year, growing our business by more than 20 per cent – in spite of the tough trading conditions. It is vital that we are geared up to provide them with the highest level of support possible so that they can continue to drive sales of our excellent and innovative river cruises.

“The investment to expand our sales and reservations teams underpins our trade-focused strategy and I am confident that this single-minded approach will continue to deliver excellent growth for us all.”