The UK boss of AmaWaterways has challenged the trade to help the river cruise sector hit the 250,000-passenger mark in 2019.
Clia reported in September that 210,400 Britons sailed on a river cruise vessel in 2017, and Stuart Perl believes that figure can rise sharply.
Addressing agents directly, he said: “We have the momentum. We are working in a sector that is at the beginning of a massive growth period.
“I would like to challenge you. We have seen 21% growth of river cruise passengers between 2016 and 2017 – the total passenger numbers in 2017 were 210,000.
“We are hopeful in 2018, the total number of passengers may have risen to 220,000.
“I would like to challenge you that in 2019 we can put ‘million’ into our passenger declaration numbers and raise the bar and get to a quarter of a million passengers. Are you up for that? That is my challenge to you.”
Giles Hawke, Clia UK’s deputy chair, said he believed that there was “plenty of scope” for growth when the passenger figures for 2017 were announced.
Perl, AmaWaterways’ managing director, was named chair of the Clia river cruise working group earlier this year.
Earlier in his message, the cruise veteran said sustainability was of paramount importance for river cruise operators, and that the sector was “always searching for ways to address environmental concerns”.
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