CroisiEurope’s global fleet will hit 60 ships in March 2020 after the line signed deals to charter vessels on the Nile and Ganges.
From February, the five-star French line will have 18 departures on Jaz Royale on the Nile and have four sailings on the Ganges for the first time on Ganges Voyager.
Both launches will come just weeks before new vessel Zimbabwean Dream’s launch in southern Africa which was announced at the Clia River Cruise Forum in Paris last year.
Prices for the eight-day Cruise on the Nile: The Land of the Pharaohs itinerary, departing from Luxor, Egypt, on November 7, 2020, leads in at £1,634.
CroisiEurope’s UK sales director John Fair said the line had “only dipped its toe in the water” by offering just four sailings on the Ganges to test demand for the river.
The lead-in price is £3,632 for the Ganges departures.
UK trade sales have risen by 27% year-on-year and Fair has attributed that rise to having more of presence in the market and communicating more with agents.
One hundred fam trip places are available to UK agents this year, up from 60 in 2018.
Fair, who was appointed to the new position last year, said: “Last year, we ran two large fam trips, but this year we are planning to run three or four culminating with a big trip after the Clia River Cruise Forum in November on the Rhine.”
The trip will be open to Clia delegates and key partners. Details of how Clia agent members can apply for the four-night sailing from Amsterdam to Strasbourg will be announced by the cruise trade association in the coming months, Fair added.
CroisiEurope acquired expedition ship Silver Discoverer from Silversea Cruises in May. Fair said he also hopes to have UK agents on the ship when it launches on October 17.
“It makes sense to showcase the ship to as many people as possible,” he said.