A NEW power base to promote river cruising in the UK has been established after Travel Renaissance Holidays was sold to US giant Viking River Cruising, the world’s largest river cruise operator.
The deal, announced this week, sees current Travel Renaissance chairman Graham Clubb and managing director Wendy Atkin-Smith retain their positions with the operator effectively becoming a UK marketing arm of Viking.
Clubb, who set up Travel Renaissance 30 years ago, would not reveal how much his company was bought for but said he would not have done the deal had it not been right for the company.
“It’s a really natural fit,” he said. “Most of the product we sell is Viking. This gives us a bit of a power base for river cruising in the future. There are a lot of travel agents who we want to educate about river cruising.”
Around 80% of holidays sold by Travel Renaissance was group booking or charters with Viking, which owns and operates a fleet of 23 ships.
Although other operators’ products will be dropped, Clubb said the deal will open up new areas, such as five-star cruising on the River Yangtze in China.
Agents can expect more marketing activity and a greater emphasis on fam trips and educationals as a result of the deal, Clubb added.
Viking River Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen said: “Travel Renaissance has an excellent reputation in the UK and has been a significant provider of business to our company since our formation.”