The Cruise Challenge, hosted by Cruise Trade News, is gearing up for its first-ever overseas edition in Cologne this Monday, in partnership with Riviera Travel and InteleTravel. Jack Carter caught up with the homeworking firm’s UK & Ireland managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes to find out why demand for river cruising is on the rise

Last Thursday (13 March) saw some 60 agents come together to celebrate the return of The Cruise Challenge, kicking off its 2025 series in Liverpool.

Next up, the agent roadshow with a difference is packing its bags and heading to Cologne for an extra-special edition. Not only does it mark the first time the event has taken place overseas, but it’s also its first time onboard a ship, with Riviera Travel’s Emily Bronte being taken over as part of an exclusive partnership between the line and homeworking firm InteleTravel.

More than 100 agents will be onboard for a three-day chartered sailing from Bonn to Cologne from 23-25 March, with delegates invited to experience the ship’s dining offering and guest areas first-hand.

A guided city tour, courtesy of the Cologne Tourism Board, will take place on Monday morning, before The Cruise Challenge hosts Pete Smith and Nathan Emtage present the fun-filled gameshow, with a host of prizes ready to be won.

Jack Carter caught up with InteleTravel’s UK & Ireland managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes to understand why the river cruise sector is seeing more engagement from agents than ever.

It’s been a strong start to the year for the river cruise sector. How is business tracking with InteleTravel agents?

We have doubled our river cruise business, but I think we can do better. We’ve grown that side of our business through dedication, whether it’s running dedicated features in our monthly newsletter to hosting webinars and podcasts all about the river cruise sector.

Our agents want to learn about river cruise. I’m certain this event with Cruise Trade News and Riviera Travel will further motivate agents not just to sell river cruise, but to help identify who the real customers are.

What is driving this appetite for the sector?

I think river cruise has always been seen as the poor relation to the ocean sector, but when look back 20 years, you can see that it took a while for ocean to get to this position. I think river cruise is now in that catch-up phase. As a river cruise fan myself, I’m absolutely determined that we’re going to get the cruise product properly understood and grow sales even more.

TV advertising is generating curiosity, but if you look at lines like Riviera, its team is so strong and it’s constantly banging the drum for the sector. They’re out there being proactive. I’m not sure that I see that from every river cruise company.

What destinations are proving particularly popular?

The Danube is in demand because there is so much capacity and the lead-in prices are very competitive. The Douro is also appealing because of the climate and the new ships that are launching.

And now you’ve got a large ocean cruise company putting its head above the parapet and showing an interest, so that’s going to be a very interesting scenario.

What impact will Celebrity’s launch into river have on the sector?

I think its customers will naturally migrate to river cruising. Celebrity has a quality product and I am sure its river ships will be of a similar quality. It’ll be using its existing clientele to drive new traffic, so I think it’s a win-win.

What are you looking forward to most from The Cruise Challenge event this Monday?

I am so excited about what we’ve got to come. We’ll have more than 100 agents onboard Emily Bronte who have paid to attend this unique river cruise conference. It’s going to be a great experience from start to finish and I hope it will help the agents identify which of their existing customers will fit this sector while helping them identify new customers.

Why is it important for agents to experience the river cruise product first hand?

With ocean cruise, there’s so much capacity so it’s much easier to get agents onboard. The challenge with river ships is they often only have capacity for around 160 people and the sector can’t afford to dilute its revenue, so the opportunity for fam trips isn’t as great.

Chartering a river cruise opens up the door for far more agents rather than just waiting for a fam trip opportunity where you’ll get a handful invited on ships throughout the year.

What are your projections for InteleTravel’s river cruise business in 2025?

I would love to see us grow our river business. At the moment, our ocean cruise business will take between 12 per cent and 20 per cent of our revenue, depending on the seasonality. I would love to see our river cruise go to about 7 per cent. That’s a huge ask, but I made big predictions for our ocean cruise business and we achieved it so let’s see if we can achieve it in the river sector.