A-Rosa GSA eyes trade expansion with events and agent training

A-Rosa’s new general sales agent has said it wants to “work with as many agents as possible” this year, including hosting trade events and webinars.

 

Earlier this year, the river cruise operator appointed Aviareps to “strengthen sales and brand presence” in the UK and Ireland through fam trips, events, agent training and managing enquiries and after-sales support.

 

Cruise sales manager Oliver Tillson, whose role is “predominantly working with travel agents” for the A-Rosa brand, said the team was planning “a lot of events for the rest of the year” to support agents with training and marketing.

 

He said: “It’s a blank canvas and I’m here to work with as many people as possible and keep the message going on the brand because the river cruise sector is growing.”

 

Tillson said he wanted to help agents “build on their success as the backbone of the business”, adding: “For me, it’s all about making sure people are aware of what we can offer, the gap in the market for us with premium all-inclusive cruising and growing more in the UK.”

 

Tillson comes from a background in ocean cruising and one of his key focuses will be communicating A-Rosa’s family-friendly offering, which he described as “unusual” in river.

 

“With river, family is not the first group of people that comes to mind,” he said. “People automatically think of a big ocean liner, but Sena is a fantastic ship with plenty to offer.”

 

The purpose-built vessel is the largest to sail on the Rhine and has 12 family cabins, but the whole fleet is family-friendly, he added.

 

Tillson outlined opportunities for UK agents to fill capacity as clients have different school holiday times to European counterparts.

 

Another key focus will be attending roadshows and trade events, such as World Travel Market in November, as well as conferences.

 

“Even if they are in-house trade events, I’m all ears,” he said. “We’re trying to get that message out to as many people as possible, so I’m trying to get as many agents contracted as we can.”

 

He said “the key thing” for partners to know was that they would have to have bonding as A-Rosa does not package cruises with flights.

 

Therefore, he said the focus would mainly be on retail, OTA and cruise specialist partners with packaging capabilities, or those who can book through a third-party tour operator.

 

In terms of sales, he said dedicated international cruises for 2027 were performing well alongside new Vienna departures, Douro and Danube River voyages and themed sailings.

 

He added there would be “more to come” on 2028 deployment and 25th anniversary plans for next year.

 

On low water levels affecting sailings, with the Rhine and the Danube reaching record lows this month, Tillson said it was “an industry-wide matter” that local authorities needed to “look into more”.

 

He said: “There is a lot of traffic on the rivers, so we always want to keep the guests well-informed of what we’re planning, and try to make it as good an experience as possible, whether that’s securing nearby berths and having to tweak the itinerary slightly.

 

“This is an important issue and key infrastructure for Europe, so what’s important is local authorities should look into this more so hopefully it’s not a thing of the future because it’s not just the river cruise sector [that’s affected], it’s a key trading route for a lot of people down that river.”