Travel Village Group pledges to ‘stand together’ with river cruise lines

Travel Village Group owners Phil and Paula Nuttall have reaffirmed their commitment to river cruising in the face of the summer heatwave hitting European waterways.

 

They have told river operators “we have your back”, while emphasising that the sector is “incredibly important” to their family business.

 

In a joint open letter, the Nuttalls, self-styled pioneers of the sector with the acquisition of RiverCruising.co.uk and subsequent investment, said: “The exceptionally low water levels across Europe’s rivers, particularly the Rhine, Main and Danube, are having a devastating impact.

 

“As a travel agent, we are seeing the effect through disrupted holidays, cancellations and lost revenue, but we are very conscious that what we are experiencing is only a fraction of the challenge facing our river cruise operator partners.

 

“The financial and operational consequences of cancelling sailings, refunding guests, repositioning ships and looking after customers must be enormous.

 

“And beyond our own industry, our thoughts are also with the guides, attractions, shops, restaurants and communities along Europe’s rivers whose livelihoods depend upon the visitors that river cruising brings.”

 

More: Record low water levels force lines to adjust European river sailings

 

The company has established an internal crisis team to stay ahead of developments, communicate proactively with clients and “protect as much existing river cruise business as we possibly can”.

 

The Nuttalls called for collaboration with river cruise lines, saying: “Could we work together on additional incentives for guests prepared to rebook? Could we protect existing prices where appropriate?

 

“Could we identify alternative itineraries or dates before cancellations are communicated? Could our teams have earlier visibility of potentially affected departures so that we can begin conversations with customers sooner?

 

“We don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we do believe that working intelligently and strategically together will protect considerably more business than any of us working independently.”

 

They pointed out that “relationships matter most when times are difficult”.

 

The letter says: “Our family business has been trading since 1959. During those years we’ve experienced recessions, ash clouds, supplier failures, terrorism, a global pandemic and many other challenges.

 

“One principle has remained constant: When things get difficult, we don’t walk away. We stand up and are counted. That is exactly how Paula and I intend to approach the current situation. And we’d like to understand what more we can do to help you achieve that.

 

“Our objective isn’t simply to process cancellations and refunds. Our first objective is to save the customer.

 

“Where a 2026 sailing cannot operate, we want to work with you to encourage guests to move their holiday rather than cancel it altogether – whether that’s to an alternative sailing later this year, a Christmas Markets departure, or forward into 2027.

 

“There will undoubtedly be some difficult weeks ahead, and none of us can control when the rain finally comes. What we can control is how we respond.

 

“The Travel Village Group and RiverCruising.co.uk remain absolutely committed to river cruising. We remain committed to our customers, and we remain committed to the operator partnerships that have helped us build such a successful river cruise business.

 

“Paula and I would therefore welcome a conversation with each of you about what we can do together over the coming weeks to retain customers, protect bookings and rebuild displaced business into late 2026 and 2027.

 

“This isn’t the time to retreat from river cruising. It’s the time for all of us who believe in it to stand together.”