AmaWaterways is to tap into the power of social media influencers to enhance its marketing activity.
The river cruise line is to partner with Jerne, a platform connecting influential travel creators and experience providers to reach potential new to cruise holidaymakers.
Approved creators will have access to experience, create content and promote AmaWaterways river cruises to new audiences around the world.
The company said the new influencer marketing strategy would complement and support strong relationships with travel agents.
The creator economy is seen as a multi billion-dollar industry with hundreds of millions of people producing and promoting all types of content for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, blogs, and other platforms, providing an additional avenue for the company’s sales and marketing activities.
The line quoted research firm Nielsen which found that 71% of consumers trust advertising opinions and product placement from content creators.
Another study found that 76% of luxury travellers selected their hotel brand, cruise line or airline based on social media, while 60% said they had previously purchased travel based on a social media post by a celebrity or influencer.
Jerne is the official creator economy partner of Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on luxury hospitality, and provides its platform to hotel, villa, restaurant, spa, tour, and cruise operators around the world.
AmaWaterways chief marketing officer Janet Bava said: ”This efficient and innovative platform provides AmaWaterways with an opportunity to work with a broad range of talented content creators and influencers who provide an incredible amount of additional targeted marketing reach – essentially building awareness and providing inspiration to encourage an entirely new group of travellers to discover river cruising.”
Jerne chief executive Tim Morgan added: ”Whether created by influencers, bloggers, or others, user generated content is an increasingly important and economical channel for influencing the buying decisions of travellers.
“Recognised as a innovator within the river cruise sector, AmaWaterways embraced this new platform and became the first to embed a creator economy strategy into its overall corporate vision.”