Happy New Year to travel advisors from Riviera River Cruises, which no longer will accept direct consumer bookings starting Jan. 1, 2020.
"Riviera is a relatively new player in North America, and we are focusing all of our marketing attend on the trade," said Marilyn Conroy, executive vice president of sales and marketing-North America. "We made that conscious decision quite a while ago. Agents are our distribution system, and we want to support the agents who support us."
Consumers who contact Riviera directly will be advised to book their river cruise through their own travel advisor. If they don't have one, the booking will be turned over to the nearest advisor to them with whom Riviera already has a relationship.
"Even if the advisor has never heard of them, they will get financial credit," Conroy told TravelPulse.
The company also announced it will be able to help agents book flights and pre- and post-cruise hotel stays throughout Europe starting Jan. 1.
"It's always been a stumbling block that we've never been able to provide help with the air," Conroy said. "We've never been in the position to provide air or pre- and post-cruise tours. We didn't have the ability to do that and now we do. The company we've retained to do this has significantly good rates on air and hotels, so it can be a one-stop operation. We want to be as easy to do business with as possible."
Riviera also will expand the hours of operation for its reservation line to better accommodate travel advisors in the western U.S. and Canada. Starting Jan. 1, the reservation line will be open from 9 a.m. EST to 8 p.m. EST.
Riviera's reservation team is led by Chris Barker and includes Merle Twigg, Ryan McVinnie, Suzanne Williams and Adam Spark, who is the groups specialist.
Conroy said Riviera's sales directors can offer help. "We might be a small sales organization, but if any agent needs assistance, they can contact regional sales directors Barbara Sargent, David Holmwood and Bruce Metzendorf."
Riviera will also offer a number of escorted fam trips in 2020. Invitations will only be sent to agents who have completed Riviera's online sales training.
The company will introduce its 13th river ship in April 2020. The MS Geoffrey Chaucer will accommodate 169 guests with cabins at least 183 square feet in size.
"None of our vessels are older than 6 years and the majority have come out in the past three years," Conroy said.
Riviera River Cruises offers 15 itineraries on 10 rivers and waterways, including exclusive departures for solo travelers with no single supplement. Riviera promotes value, as it doesn't automatically include gratuities or drinks. The European company opened a U.S. office in 2017.
For more information, visit www.rivierarivercruises.com or call 888-838-8820. Travel advisors can order updated catalogs and sales guides for 2020 at www.rivierarivercruises.com/brochures.
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