Clia’s 2025 RiverView Conference in Budapest next March sold out in just over 24 hours.
The three-day event from March 8-10, went on sale on Wednesday morning last week and by midday on Thursday, all 500 agent places had been snapped up.
The association’s UK & Ireland managing director Andy Harmer said it was the fastest-selling Clia event of all time and is now looking at ways to make additional places and opportunities available for more agents to attend.
“It will be the 15th year of our RiverView conference next year. When we started, about 50 agents joined us, but now we have 500 signed up and a significant wait-list,” said Harmer.
Asked why the event had grown in popularity so much, he said: “Firstly, agents are now switched on to the opportunities that the river cruise sector offers, and secondly, they have recognised that the three days of conference are an amazing way to learn more about the sector, hear from some great river cruise and destination experts and see multiple ships in one go.”
Six ships will be in Budapest for agents to experience. They are Riviera’s MS William Wordsworth, Viva Cruises’ Viva Two, Scenic’s Scenic Opal, AmaWaterways’ Ama Sonata, Tui River Cruises’ Tui Skyla and Riverside’s Riverside Mozart.
“The range of ships on offer on the Danube over our three conference days is amazing. The reason we choose the dates we do, is that it’s just before the ships enter service with paying customers for the season.”
Harmer said he was hoping the supporting lines would either be able to make more cabins available to host agents overnight, or that more lines would bring a ship to the city.
Clia will be repeating its New To Selling River Cruise masterclass the day before the main conference, following great success of the inaugural event earlier this year.
“Over 200 agents attended the New To River Cruise masterclass in 2024, meaning they paid to come out a day early and covered their own hotel accommodation, such is the demand to learn about this sector,” he said.
Fam trips after the conference will also take place.
“The river cruise lines have made a large number of places available on post-RiverView fam trips along the Danube to Vienna. We are aiming for at least a third of agent delegates will stay and sail, so they truly understand the river cruising experience,” said Harmer.