New river lines ‘a great opportunity’ for the sector, says VIVA boss
The introduction of new river cruise operators in Europe will help attract more customers to the sector, according to VIVA Cruises chief executive officer
Speaking to Cruise Trade News, Andrea Kruse said the likes of Celebrity Cruises, Trafalgar and National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions launching river brands will bring fresh attention to the market.
“These new companies will give a lot of awareness to river cruising, to audiences who may have never considered the sector before,” Kruse added. “Brands like Celebrity attract a much younger audience, which is great for all river operators.”
Kruse admitted, however, that the growth on Europe’s rivers should be measured. “The rivers are already there – you can’t invent new rivers, so we have to be careful to protect these delicate environments.
“You have to think about climate change and the differing water levels. Our intention is not to become a mass product. We don’t want to end up with 30/40 ships, but instead around 11 or 12. A big plus we have, as a river operator, is that since we operate everything internally, whenever something goes wrong, we can pivot and change things quickly.”
Next May VIVA will debut a new boutique river cruise ship on the Seine, VIVA Beyond, to mark the launch of its new high end brand-within-a-brand concept, VIVA Boutique.
A second unnamed vessel will enter service in 2027. “These ships will carry only 112 guests, offering a more intimate experience,” Kruse explained.
Michelle Daniels, country manager UK and Ireland for VIVA Cruises, has been working with the likes of Hays Travel, Advantage and Gold Medal to increase the brand’s reach in the UK.
“We’re trying to ensure that we are able to cover every avenue in terms of working with our trade partners,” she said. “We’ve recently managed to secure a group booking with Ledger Shearings Holidays, which I’m excited about, because I think that’s going to be the start of a really interesting partnership on the group side.
“For us, it’s about being accessible to all trade partners, whether they are able to package with their own Atol license, and if they can’t we can offer them the avenues to be able to offer VIVA through a wholesaler.”
So far this year the company has seen an uptick in groups bookings, but Daniels admits the brand is still “at grassroots level” of development in the UK.
“Things are looking really positive, and we’re starting to now look at the next stage, which is getting marketing plans in place and launching a trade campaign which is due to start at the end of this month,” she added.
Earlier this year, speaking exclusively to CTN, Daniels outlined her goal to grow the UK’s market share to 10 per cent from 4 per cent.
“The company has rapidly expanded in other markets, we’ve opened an office in the US and appointed a country manager in Scandinavia, so there’s no reason why the UK can’t follow suit,” she said at the time.
Kruse added: “Looking at this year, 50 per cent of our capacity is international. The UK is in good hands and Scandinavia is quite big for us, about 15 per cent, and we also have source from Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg.
“We have a younger audience compared to most river cruise operators. Our average age is around 60, which is around 10 years younger than our competitors.”
