Viva Cruises aims to grow UK and Ireland market to 10% of overall revenue

Viva Cruises is targeting growth in the UK and Ireland, with the aim of the market accounting for 10% of its overall revenue.

The river specialist currently operates 10 ships on European rivers and last year expanded its international sales team to focus on the UK and the Nordics.

Viva Cruises chief executive Andrea Kruse told Travel Weekly: “Looking at growth at an international level, we are looking at the UK and Ireland to have something around a 10% share of our overall revenue.

“Currently we have 10% out of the US, roughly 15% from Scandinavia which is growing tremendously, Benelux and Luxembourg have 10%, and Spain, Asia and South America are also growing.”

She said the UK, US and Scandinavia were “core markets” for the business internationally besides its German-speaking market, with the English language used first on board its ships to reflect this international expansion.

When asked about conveying unique selling points with new competitors entering the market, she maintained: “Viva will never become the mass product. It is not our intention to have 20 or 25 ships.

“It is more about how we build up our brand and with Viva Boutique launching in 2026 it is more about something smaller and unique, a great customer experience.”

Kruse highlighted Viva’s “success” as the first river operator to launch in the “off-season” of January, February and March, to the point it will have six ships cruising 11.5 months of the year in 2026, up from two when it first started the initiative three years ago.

She said it had found it was “a nice opportunity” to generate new clients, reach a younger audience and tap into demand which had “changed dramatically” over the last few years.

Kruse said: “April and October were not high season but now are completely high season because of climate change.

“The whole month of December for us is a high season now, and it’s not just Christmas and New Year’s Eve, so it’s really changing.”

She added this had led to adjusted prices on sailings on the Danube, Douro and Rhone rivers in mid-July and August where there was potentially lower demand due to heat waves, compared to other months which were “turning more into high season with high demand”.

Michelle Daniels, who was appointed as country manager for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in April, reiterated the line had “optimistic targets” to grow in all of those markets by the end of 2026 and that its “full focus” was on the trade.

She said the UK market still represented “quite a small percentage” of the overall business, and as a result the operator would be launching a trade marketing campaign across digital, social media and trade titles over the next few months to make them “unmissable” for agents.

Viva will additionally launch a refreshed online training portal by the end of the summer with linked incentives for agents to sign up and complete modules.

There will also be “at least” one fam trip by the end of the year, and more next year, with the aim to invite “a real mix of the trade”, including those that are new-to-river, Daniels added, while the operator will look to commit to bringing another ship to Clia RiverView next year.

She said: “There has definitely been an element where agents know about Viva, but they’re not quite sure how we are different so that is a priority to communicate and train agents to understand what makes us unique.

“Awareness is building as agents have seen the ships at the Clia RiverView conference for the last two years, but the next stage is to get them to a point where they understand us, our personality, who the right customer is and how they can sell us and attract a new-to-cruise or new-to-brand customer.”

She highlighted the contemporary design, all-inclusive offering and “freedom, flexibility and choice” would appeal to “a large variety” of clients.

“We are a premium lifestyle brand appealing to an affluent customer,” Daniels insisted.