A-Rosa River Cruises is looking to fill a vacancy in its “small but mighty” trade sales team.
Speaking during a Travel Weekly webcast, UK and Ireland managing director Lucia Rowe confirmed the river line was searching for someone to support agents in the north of England and Scotland.
The line’s trade sales team consists of head of sales Stephen Joyner; Joe Lavers, regional sales manager for the south; and commercial manager Hugh Clayson.
Rowe said: “I think we’re definitely punching above our weight. We’re a small but mighty team here. People just have the heart for the work that we do and understand that it’s all about agents.
“Our wonderful team talk to agents and they listen to them and they continuously ask them what they need. This team is fighting very hard to understand what those needs are.”
She added: “They are training agents a lot and they go all over the country.”
Rowe confirmed she expected fare prices to go up across the river sector. “I know you can find some deals, but on the whole the prices have gone up,” she added. “They will continue to do so which actually is good news for agents because they earn more ultimately.
“People recognise how valuable it is going away so they will pay good money for it. Also wherever prices rise, there’s also a promise of increased quality of the product so it goes both ways.”
Rowe revealed running coach Rory Coleman, who has trained leading industry figures including Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson and Lisa McAuley, owner of travel advice publisher Silver Travel Advisor, will be a motivational speaker at the Clia RiverView Conference in Vienna in March.
Coleman will also lead a running-themed cruise holiday in October that will raise money for tourism social enterprise Charitable Travel.
Participants will run 10km per day over five days along the Danube.
“He’s going to come and accompany this cruise, but every passenger who books this cruise will have access to his training programme,” Rowe explained.
“It’s a one-to-one coaching programme from when you book all the way until you’re on the cruise. There’s no better preparation than that. That’s the package and there’s immense value attached to it.”