The fourth-annual, sold-out ASTA River Cruise Expo has wrapped up and what a resounding success it was, with more than 1,600 people gathering in Vienna for four days, including 1,300 U.S.-based travel advisors. This year showcased 16 river ships from nine river cruise brands, with advisors connecting with more than 100 exhibitors during the trade show and gaining valuable insight on the latest innovations in river cruising with education sessions, tours and culinary offerings during lunches and dinners. The river cruise lines truly rolled out the red carpet, presenting dazzling dance parties and entertainment.
Participating river cruise brands and ships included AMADEUS (Nova), AmaWaterways (AmaBella, AmaLea, AmaMagna, AmaSonata), Avalon (Illumination, Passion and Impression), Riverside Luxury Cruises (Mozart), Riviera (MS William Wordsworth), Scenic Group (Scenic Opal and Emerald Luna), Tauck (MS Savor), Uniworld (S.S. Maria Theresa) and Viking (Rinda and Ingvi).
Zane Kirby, President and CEO for the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), spoke to the travel advisors at the opening General Session, sharing his excitement about how the advisors in attendance will build strong relationships that will make them more effective at their job. He also noted that this year’s education sessions were focused on opportunities to lift their profession. “If a profession wants respect, it must earn it from the public by demanding it of itself. No other industry asks less of those entrusted with so much: people’s money, dreams and their family’s safety. That’s why ASTA created the Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) program—to set a real industry standard,” said Kirby.
Kirby encouraged travel advisors to take the VTA program and explained how VTAs will earn extra commission from a list of suppliers that keeps growing. Also, attending the ASTA River Cruise Expo helps ASTA with its mission to defend and promote the travel advisor profession.
ASTA River Cruise Expo will return to the Rhine River in 2026 (March 11-15) as it heads to Amsterdam. In its fifth year, the conference will welcome Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of “Eat, Pray, Love” as the keynote speaker. Registration is now open, with three levels: General Admission, General Admission Plus+ and VIP Admission.
Insider Tips & a Peek at the Future
Two godfathers of river cruising, Viking’s Torsten Hagen and AmaWaterways’ Rudi Schriener provided travel advisors with these insights:
- Farm-to-table concept is big—we are using more and more local resources, working with the the local shopkeepers who really want the business created by river cruise tourism. We get fruits, vegetables, fish, etc. from them. This, in turn, limits transportation.
- There’s plenty of room on the Rhine and Danube rivers to expand river cruising; expanding canals offers new routes.
- New entries coming into the market, with new ideas for a bright future in river cruising.
- Clients have double the leisure time on a river cruise and to better serve their clients, advisors should go on a river cruise.
- The challenge is to get more docking space as some cities are limiting growth but there will be new destinations.
- Extended river cruise season in Europe, from March to December.
Look for Recommend’s April issue, which will highlight some of the exciting refurbishings, programs and new ships coming to the rivers this year and beyond.
