The Association of Cruise Experts is to run a River Cruise Expo for the UK trade in Amsterdam this autumn.
Five river ships will feature at the event which takes place on November 20-21 and is open to ACE Ambassadors, the highest level of trained agent.
The Expo will focus on providing practical advice and guidance ensuring agents are best placed to take advantage of the growing interest in river cruise holidays.
It will include visits to ships operated by AMA Waterways, APT, Elegant River Cruises and Shearings.
Ambassadors will stay overnight on board a river cruise vessel and take advantage of specialised river cruise product training and conference sessions.
ACE director Flo Powell said: “We have a great line-up of events all designed to help agents sell more ocean and river cruise holidays.
“ACE now has seven river members and we are working together to increase agent knowledge, so I’m delighted to announce details of our first River Expo.
“We will also be launching an online map making it easy for agents to see the wide and exciting range of river cruise destinations along with the operator details.
“We also have plans make available online product training courses from APT, Avalon Waterways and Shearings.”
Other ACE events during the year include visits to more than 50 ships across the UK and seven ACE training courses in Dover, Portsmouth, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Dublin.
Agents can find further information about ACE events by visiting www.cruiseexperts.org with registration for Expos opening on Thursday (March 3).