Customer knowledge, targeting ocean cruisers and the ability to adapt during a crisis are just some of the key takeaways from this year’s CLIA RiverView conference

Travel agents, cruise industry executives and destinations partners were welcomed to Amsterdam from 8-10 March for the annual event, designed to boost agents’ river cruise knowledge.

Six-hundred delegates heard from a range of speakers during conference sessions, including cruising television royalty Susan Calman, spoke to cruise line salespeople at a trade fair and visited several ships.

Here, we highlight six key takeaways from the conference to help you boost your cruise sales.

Know your customer

Comedian and television personality Susan Calman, known widely in the cruise industry for her series ‘Cruising with Susan Calman’, advised agents to build relationships with their customers to get to know what is important to them.

Using herself as an example, she said some customers prefer more simple ways to travel, and if any agents have clients with a similar disposition, they are prime candidates for a river cruise.

“The thing I love about river cruising compared to ocean cruising, is that river cruises are simple,” she said. “On ocean cruises there are apps, a lot of admin and it takes loads of time to get from one place to another.

“So for people like me who hate complications, river cruises are a perfect holiday. You can fly from loads of UK airports directly into cities like Amsterdam where you can pick up a brilliant river cruise and just get on with it. The ships are small and contained and you can walk off really easily and enjoy your travels.

“In river cruising, you get independence to travel to destinations you choose, but you also get a lovely meal, someone turns down your cabin and you can socialise if you want to. Cruising is absolutely the best holiday you can go on.”

Chris Townson, UK and Europe managing director for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, went on to say some customers are considering spending their money sooner than they had planned due to taxation laws enacted by the UK’s current Labour government.

He suggested that may be a good avenue to seek out sales if agents have customers they think might be in such a position.

“There is a concern about the current tax laws within our customer base,” he said. “We are seeing a lot of customers saying things like: ‘The Labour government is taxing us so I’m going to spend [my money] before I get taxed to hell,’ so that could lead to increased sales.”

Target ocean cruise clients

Giles Hawke, vice president international for Celebrity Cruises, took to the stage as the line prepares to welcome 20 river ships by 2031, the first two of which are scheduled to be delivered next year.

When asked how the line plans to fill all its river ships, he replied: “We have a ready-made database of customers from our ocean ships who are saying they want to take a river cruise. We also have the whole Royal Caribbean database to tap into, so there are loads of customers out there for us.”

He went on to encourage agents to target their own ocean cruise customers and try to entice them onto the rivers.

“[Our new ships] equals a huge opportunity for agents,” he said. “Lots of agents sell our ocean cruises which means they have customers who already love the Celebrity Cruises brand and we’re taking all our knowledge to the river.

“If you have past Celebrity Cruises customers, we are their target market on the rivers.”

Phil Nuttall, Travel Village Group chief executive, also advised agents to target their ocean cruise clients, saying the challenge of converting customers from ocean cruise to river cruise has been a “struggle” in the past, but that is starting to change.

“We’re in a place where people want more personal, smaller experiences,” he said. “The ocean industry seems to be hell bent on building economies of scale, but we’re seeing more and more that people don’t want to queue to get off a big ship, they want something smaller, like a river ship.”

Addressing the agents in the room, he said: “You all have customers who remember the older, smaller river ships of years gone by, but if you can talk those customers into going onto a modern river cruise, the tide will turn.”

Europe is the next ‘big opportunity’

Many speakers referenced the challenges posed by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as several cancelled sailings to ensure their passengers and crew were safe.

Some panellists suggested European river cruising may be looked upon as a potential alternative for those customers who were planning on travelling to further-flung destinations but may now be more nervous to travel.

Agents were encouraged to adapt to ongoing crises around the globe, and try to find new opportunities to sell.

Janet Wittingham, head of cruise at Travel Counsellors, said: “Because of what’s going on in the Middle East, we are now seeing a surge on European cruising. People who were planning on taking land-based holidays further afield might now see a river cruise in Europe as being attractive as it isn’t affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

“I think there is a big opportunity to sell Europe now.”

Advantage Travel Partnership director of cruise Jonny Peat agreed, adding: “These European rivers are on our doorstep and I don’t think they are being considered by customers or offered by agents.

“River cruising in Europe is a fantastic way to see so many destinations.”

Differentiation is needed

Audience members raised concerns they did not know the difference between some of the lines, as many pitch themselves as having ‘the best service’ or offering ‘the best food’, leaving the trade at a loss.

Nicki Tempest-Mitchell, managing director at Barrhead Travel, urged lines: “Tell us your difference. Articulate it better to our agents so they know the difference between lines.”

Peat said lines are good at highlighting the destinations they visit, but do not share enough insight on their hardware.

Paul Melinis said many lines use the word “luxury” in their branding, but all offer different levels of service, so it can be difficult for agents to know how to sell each line to their customers.

“Luxury means different things to different folks so we have to explain what it is to agents and customers,” he said. “It all comes down to content so people can see for themselves.”

Given the growing number of river cruise lines in the market Peat, recommended agents do not try to learn about every line, to avoid overwhelming themselves with information.

Instead, he suggested the trade pick a few lines to learn thoroughly.

“It’s hard to cut through to noise and learn about every river cruise line,” he said. “I would advise agents pick two or three river cruise lines, get under the skin of them and stick with that model going forward.”

Video content is king

Robertina Tompa, head of cruise at Mail Metro Media, urged agents to tailor their video content to the platform they are using so they can target their audience more efficiently.

She encouraged the trade to be thoughtful when creating content and to consider what it is they are hoping to achieve with each post, whether it be brand awareness, education or sales.

“It is really important for every brand to adjust to every single platform and talk to the right audiences with the right content,” she said.

“Short form videos are amazing for discovering new products and drive influence for product purchases, however, when you want to talk about cruising, it’s really important to have share that in-depth knowledge and logistics around intricate details of travel, which is perfect for long-form content like YouTube. Video content is king.”

Do your homework

Nuttall told agents they must be “disciplined” when preparing to sell river cruise, urging them to brush up on their geography so they can better sell to their customers.

He referenced a time an agent did not know what a river was and urged: “Do your homework.”

“It’s about discipline for yourself,” he said. “Learn your geography. Get a map out and learn that a river starts inland and finishes on the coast – you would not believe some agents don’t know that.

“Invest in understanding the logistics [of river cruising]. Understand where local airports are and once you’ve built up your confidence, that’s what will get a customer over the line.

“We should all be able to sell, but you need that basic knowledge of where things are and what you can see on each river.”