Column: “River is growing by the minute”
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The sector is perfectly positioned to attract inquisitive travellers who want to get under the skin of lesser-explored destinations, says Claire Hills, national sales manager, Riviera Travel
It’s safe to say 2025 is shaping up to be a milestone year for the river cruise sector, as demand for sailings on the world’s waterways continues to outpace our predictions. One driving force behind this increasing demand is the desire of customers to truly get under the skin of a destination – something river cruising is perfectly suited to meet.
Being able to unpack once, not having to worry about pre‑cruise travel with our door‑to-door service and stepping off the ship directly into the heart of cities such as Vienna, Paris and Porto puts lines like Riviera Travel in a unique position compared to other sectors of the industry.
Riviera performed strongly throughout 2024 and that, in part, is because our clients are looking for something a little different. It may be that they’ve ocean cruised before, or they’re usually interested in touring, and now they’ve discovered a river cruise is the perfect blend of both.
The immersive experiences these customers are searching for aren’t just captured shoreside, either. We offer talks about the destination with a Riviera cruise director to help guests immerse themselves in the regions they’re travelling to even before they’ve even stepped off the ship – something our customers have asked for more of as they continue to seek destination‑rich experiences.
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It’s hard to pinpoint an exact location which has stood out for guests, as our entire destination network increased in popularity in 2024. For 2025, though, our Blue Danube itinerary, which visits culture-rich ports such as Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna, is selling very well, as is the Douro in Portugal, which is popular with fans of wine, hiking and warmer climates.
The River Seine and the River Rhône are also proving popular, having garnered immense exposure during the Olympic Games in Paris last summer, once again proving that the destination is key when it comes to consumer’s decision-making.
We’ve also seen an uptick in demand in long-haul river cruising, especially on the Mekong. It’s so popular, in fact, that we’ll be adding a new vessel to the river in 2026. Elsewhere, the Nile is another location which has really taken off and we can see it being a go-to choice for river cruisers in 2025.
To ensure all travellers have an opportunity to take a destination-rich river cruise this year, we made the decision to boost our solo offering, as this is another market that’s growing by the minute. We even launched our new Riviera Explorer trade training initiative, which was designed in part to help agents tap into the burgeoning number of solo cruise‑goers.
We will also offer sailings of four days all the way up to 29 days to give guests the opportunity to spend as much or as little time experiencing numerous destinations in one sailing.
However people decide to cruise in 2025, one thing is for certain: the destination will be crucial to their decision-making process.
