Riviera Travel’s chief executive Phil Hullah has shared his disappointment the river cruise sector has not resolved misconceptions around the product, saying: “It is frustrating we haven’t done a better job”.
Hullah told delegates at this year’s Clia RiverView conference operators and agents need to “do more” to educate customers on river cruise and to “dispel myths”.
He encouraged agents to focus on the relaxed nature of river cruising, to highlight the autonomy passengers have over when they eat, what activities they do and if they participate in excursions, and to show it is fun.
“People have misconceptions that river cruising it boring and we need to do a better job at dispelling those myths and getting the message across that this couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.
“All river cruise operators need to be more creative in their marketing and to show real people who have an affinity for river cruising, not just actors or celebrities. We want to showcase the voices of real passengers who can share their experiences.
“There is so much more breadth to river cruising than people realise.”
When asked who the target market should be for river cruise customers, Hullah said he would not want to narrow it down or exclude anyone, as it is “broadly applicable” to any client.
He encouraged agents to look outside the cruise sector and delve deeper into their databases to find potential river cruise customers.
“The kind of people you would suggest it to are people who want to combine relaxation with a little bit of exploration, which can be anything from a stroll around town to a long cycle ride,” he said. “I wouldn’t narrow it down beyond that.”
Hullah went on to praise innovation within the river cruise sector, saying ships are entering the market with new sustainability features, deployment opportunities and solo travel options, based on feedback from customers.
“Innovation in river cruising will never end,” he said. “You could look at European river cruising and say ‘there’s only five rivers so how much more can you innovate?’, but if you listen to customers and what they want, there are always opportunities to progress.
“We’re constantly looking beyond Europe. We do sail on the Mekong and the Nile to a relatively small scale but we have an obvious opportunity to take what we do in Europe further afield. Our guests travel to far corners of the world so we want to support that.”