AmaWaterways defies ‘headwinds’ with UK bookings up 28%

AmaWaterways’ sales chiefs have hailed the “strength” of the UK market as bookings for January to April are up 28% year on year “despite headwinds” from the Middle East conflict.

Bookings for 2026 from the UK are 21% ahead of 2025 levels, with river cruises in Colombia and France coming out as particularly popular, with sales for Rhone sailings more than doubling year on year.

The luxury line also claimed to have 150% more capacity in February 2026 compared to 2025.

Chief executive Catherine Powell said: “Last year was the biggest year ever for our UK business, this January was our biggest ever.

“With everything that is going on, between January and April we still have 28% growth. Our UK business is really strong.”

Speaking more about the impact of the Middle East conflict, Powell added cancellations for Nile River cruises had “completely stabilised” following a few cancellations in March and April and tours to Jordan had resumed.

“We have had no real recent cancellations, and I’m absolutely sure we will start to see bookings start to pick up [for Egypt], all things being well,” she said. “Our Egypt occupancy is very high, and it is one of our most popular cruises.”

Head of international markets Jamie Loizou noted there was “still demand” for Egypt and Nile River cruises had had no cancellations from UK passengers.

“From a UK perspective, we are getting enquiries and bookings [for the Nile],” he said. “The UK is a resilient market, and we’ve got a new ship coming in towards the end of the year, so we still see Egypt as a definite growth opportunity.”

He added the year-on-year increase in bookings for 2026 showed there was also “strong demand” for the new ships coming into the fleet, which will reach more than 31 by the end of the year.

Loizou said: “In spite of the fact there might be some headwinds, we are seeing a significant amount of demand out there.

“There is a huge amount of interest in river cruise, and there’s huge amount of opportunity because it’s still a tiny percentage of not only travel, but also cruise.

“We are seeing more and more advisors coming to us for the first time, more and more large travel agencies being mandated to sell river cruise, because it’s a great opportunity to capture the demand, and it’s a great earning opportunity as well.”

Loizou said three new additions to the luxury line’s trade team, the relaunched ‘Sell three, sail free incentive’ and commitments to more training and fam trips were examples of “giving agents the same level of service we give our guests”.

Meanwhile, Powell highlighted new opportunities for agents to capitalise on, including the new City Escapes range starting in November which has already seen an increase in occupancy.

She said the focus looking ahead was to “continue to promote what differentiates AmaWaterways” and how the company is investing in its fleet, onboard experience, brand and trade partners.

Powell added: “Travel advisors have always been important to us, in the UK in particular, and they will continue to be important to us.

“Our relationship with them when there is growing competition and difficult geopolitical stuff going on is incredibly important to us.

“They want to know who they can trust and where to go, and so we will continue to invest in those relationships and partnerships.”