Yesterday morning aboard AmaWaterways’ AmaSofia, I awakened to something that should bring a measure of relief to much of Europe: the noise of thunder and rain.
The sound would have been music to the ears of those around Austria, where AmaSofia is currently sailing, as well as all of Europe’s river cruise lines, as the continent battles through a severe water level crisis driven by prolonged heatwaves and intense drought.
Major rivers, including the Danube, Rhine, Po, and Loire, have hit record-low levels, forcing cruise lines to adapt through itinerary changes, coach transfers, and ship swaps.
This has become the defining operational challenge of the European summer, coming at a time when river cruising has never been more popular.
Many passengers, including a large number of Australians embarking on their first river cruise, have had their itineraries transformed into hybrid land-and-water trips, adding hotel stays and coach touring to their sailing.
Every cruise line is taking a different approach, but those operating some of the largest fleets on the rivers, such as AmaWaterways and Viking, are implementing ‘ship swaps’: guests sail on one vessel up to the river’s impassable shallow stretch, get off with their luggage, ride a coach past the bottleneck, and board an identical sister ship on the other side to resume their cruise.
Other cruise lines which lack the fleet size to execute ship swaps are converting itineraries into multi-day coach tours, taking the approach of ‘the show must go on’.
This has seen some travellers spend hours on coaches to reach cities like Budapest, Nuremberg, or Regensburg, because their ships cannot physically dock in these destinations.
While some excursions have been missed and destinations skipped, the wide range of approaches to the crisis shows river cruise lines are doing what they can with the resources available to them to deliver the best possible experience for their guests.
Adaptability is key
Unfortunately, one morning of rain will not solve the problem. To fully fix the European water crisis and permanently restore river levels, the continent requires weeks of sustained, above-average rainfall, totaling roughly 500 to 700mm of precipitation, spread across the entire river basin, the BBC reports.
This was not exactly what AmaWaterways managing director Steve Richards wanted to hear last week as he prepared to take more than 130 agents and travelling companions on the cruise line’s first-ever ‘River of Rewards’ mega famil, a trip two years in the making.
The famil, which was recently nominated for a National Travel Industry Award in marketing, was AmaWaterways’ first major trade campaign, and the winners’ reward – a seven-night cruise on the Danube – was threatened by the river’s low water levels.
However, rather than looking at the situation as a negative, Richards highlighted the unique ability it offered AmaWaterways to showcase to travel advisors the cruise line’s maritime, logistical, and hospitality expertise.
“It actually flipped into sort of a potentially positive situation for us,” he observed.
With AmaWaterways unable to navigate its brand-new AmaSofia all the way to Budapest – the original embarkation port of the cruise – guests were accommodated in a five-star hotel in the city, provided with dinner and drinks on the original departure date, and coached to the ship the next day.
No destinations on the itinerary were missed either, with AmaWaterways still providing a walking tour of Bratislava, which was originally slated to be the second destination AmaSofia was to dock at.
“It’s important to emphasise every method of travel has problems, especially when it’s weather-related, but it’s how you handle those situations, because we’re all in the same boat,” Richards added.
The local AmaWaterways chief said that underpinning his confidence in his cruise line’s strategy was its policy of modifying or adapting voyages rather than cancelling.
“When Australians go to Europe, they don’t just do a seven-night river and come back home again, it’s often a component of a bigger holiday, so if we were to cancel that, it would be a nightmare,” he explained.
Ultimately, while the itinerary did not go exactly to plan, Richards appreciated the opportunity to showcase to the advisors on board that in a crisis, their clients are in good hands.
Little concern around the industry
While immediate concern exists for the coming days and weeks of departures, the river cruise industry at large firms as one of the most sought-after and increasingly popular sectors within travel.
AmaWaterways head of marketing Angela Smith believes the experience of Australian travellers during the COVID-19 pandemic makes it unlikely such relatively minor headlines will have a broad effect on bookings.
“In the last six years, I think Australians have proven their resilience when it comes to travel,” she said.
“I think particularly for travel advisors, when they partner with the right suppliers and operators, they can trust them, and they know it’s going to be okay.”
Your Travel & Cruise’s Nicolle Poole, who is travelling aboard the AmaWaterways mega famil, said her clients who are considering a river cruise are more concerned with the sector’s typical differentiators and selling points than the Danube’s waterline.
“They want to know what the food is like, they want to know what the onshore experience is like…they have been ocean travellers so they really want to make sure that it lives up to it,” she said.
Poole said the fact her clients are not considering travelling this year makes water levels a relatively moot point.
Main Beach Travel’s Samantha Lang, who has had a number of clients sail on a river cruise in recent weeks, said very few issues had arisen with her travellers’ bookings.
She said that cruise lines that have chosen to adapt and move forward with the itinerary had stood out, as opposed to those which had cancelled, sometimes just days out from departure.
Problems like itinerary changes and cancellations also reinforce the importance of a trusted travel advisor, added Flight Centre Narallen’s Rachael Hackney.
“When these things pop up, who are you going to ask about your current booking – that’s why it’s so important to have a travel advisor that people trust,” she said.
“If AmaWaterways are going to readjust and work this to our favour, it shows us how they’re going to do it for our clients, and that is super important.”
This suggests that, despite the occurrence of a relatively rare problem, the customer’s happiness remains paramount.
And now for the rest of the week with Janie Medbury:
Looking at the week across the broader travel industry, excitement is ramping up for the National Travel Industry Awards (NTIAs), with ATIA announcing the first batch of finalists on Wednesday morning.
Travel Daily was there to break the news of course – and again on Thursday and Friday, as the remaining finalists were revealed across 36 categories (see the full list HERE if you missed it).
Meanwhile, this week saw several key appointments across the sector, including the appointment of former Etihad VP – APAC & ISC, Lindsay White, as AVIAREPS’ new GM for Australia and New Zealand.
Journey Beyond also welcomed former local Carnival Cruise Line chief as its new MD experiences & Attractions Jennifer Vandekreeke as part of the company’s broader corporate reshuffle. And finally, on Thursday, CVFR Consolidation Services announced Georgina Davies as its new commercial manager – Australia.
Elsewhere, several major developments unfolded across the industry, including Tourism Australia unveiling its new 10-year strategy, which placed a strong emphasis on AI.
The marketing organisation listed “marketing to humans and machines” as one of four priorities in its pursuit of doubling high-yield visitor spend to as much as $69 billion by 2035, saying it would work with algorithms and AI systems to ensure Australia comes up front-and-centre in destination searches.
In an exclusive conversation with Travel Daily on Wednesday, Corporate Travel Management insisted it remained committed to supporting the Australian travel industry and ATIA.
The reassurance followed New Zealand’s decision the day before to suspend CTM from tendering for future travel contracts.
New research this week also suggested Australians are becoming more value-conscious, with travellers increasingly holidaying closer to home, according to findings from Plateau International, while an iSelect study revealed that nearly two-thirds admitted to feeling guilty about how much they spend on travel.
And, in a move that may prove unpopular with Australians already feeling the pinch, Jetstar announced it would introduce fees for overhead baggage.
With that, have a safe and frugal weekend.
