Riviera Travel honours top agents with first awards ceremony
Riviera Travel held its inaugural travel agent awards ceremony on 10 April to celebrate the achievements of its trade partners
Hosted at The Lookout in London by World of Cruising TV presenter Dean Wilson, the Riv Awards recognised agents across regional, national and special recognition categories.
Winners were selected by the river cruise line’s trade team based on 2024 year-on-year performance.
Gates Travel was named the top-performing agent for the North East and Cumbria, with 119 per cent growth in revenue compared with last year.
Angela Dobson of Gates Travel said: “The win feels absolutely amazing. We’re so pleased. It’s fantastic to receive recognition for all the hard work that we did last year.”
Andrew Earles Holidays was recognised in the Yorkshire and the Humber category after achieving 20 per cent year-on-year growth.
“I’m extremely surprised,” said Andrew Earle. “I knew we’d had a good year but wouldn’t expect us to be the top in the region, primarily because we’ve been established for 25 years there, so it’s good that we’re seeing growth despite not being a new company.
“I think events like this highlight to the whole trade that companies like Riviera are growing, and therefore there’s an opportunity for agents to grow with them,” he continued.
Fred. Olsen Travel received the Engagement and Marketing Award as part of the special recognition categories. Head of commercial Tracy Clenshaw and retail director Paul Hardwick accepted the gong on behalf of the team.
Reflecting on the value of the event, Clenshaw said: “It gives an opportunity to not only meet with the cruise line and our business partners, but also our peers within the industry because we all share analytics and data. It’s not about competing against each other, it’s about working alongside each other.”
Hardwick added: “The location, the venue, the intimacy – all of that’s lovely, to be able to network and connect.”
Clenshaw also highlighted recent trends in the market: “We’ve seen a big increase in our river business this year. About 12 per cent of our business in this past year is river cruising, so we’ve worked closely with all our river cruise partners to provide that engagement.”
The Riv Awards mark Riviera Travel’s latest effort to recognise and strengthen its partnership across the trade as it continues to expand its river cruise product.
