Ensemble Travel Group has made it official - top cruise company AmaWaterways is the host agency's latest river cruise partner, joining a robust network of preferred suppliers.
This cruise travel niche is not languishing, according to U.S. and Canada Ensemble members. Queried as part of the company's Ensemble Insights survey, 49 percent forecasted a rise in river cruise bookings in 2017 as compared to this year, with just 14 percent believing it will be a decrease.
Co-President Lindsay Pearlman announced the partnership at Ensemble's annual conference to an exclusive audience of several hundred agency owners and managers. He stated, "AmaWaterway's upper premium product has been a popular river cruise option for some of our members for years, so we're delighted to officially bring them on board already with an impressive book of Ensemble business." Pearlman continued, "Ama is family-owned and they're very involved in all aspects of the operation. This fits nicely with our Ensemble philosophy. And the fact that they're huge supporters of the travel agency community is another plus."
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Kristin Karst, executive vice president/co-owner of AmaWaterways is excited about the synergy being built between the cruise line and the host agency. "Being named a preferred partner with Ensemble means a great deal to everyone on the AmaWaterways team," she said. "We pride ourselves on the sales, marketing and educational support we offer our travel agent partners and this fits perfectly with the strategy Ensemble has as an organization. We are excited to be able to share our selling tools and product experience with more Ensemble members as we know how important this first-hand experience is in being able to confidently sell our river cruises."
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