Riviera Travel reveals trade booking boom

This includes an uptick of 51% for river cruises, and 66% for dedicated solo departures across both its cruise and escorted touring product.

The trade has also prompted a sharp rise in ‘Signature Tour’ demand on long-haul escorted tours. Signature tours have seen a 38% growth in trade revenue year-on-year. As such, a further four itineraries will be added to next year’s programme - Imperial Cities of Morocco, Jordan & Petra; South Africa; The Best of Japan; and Southern India’s Coastal Route - bringing the worldwide total on offer up to 20.

Overall, the trade team has increased its bookings share of Riviera’s business by 10% since 2019. Trade-friendly initiatives include:

* Seven key account managers are now in place, with four additions recruited this year. Two newly created roles - national sales manager, retail & OTAs; and national sales manager, homeworkers - have also been introduced. A dedicated trade reservations team is additionally now in place. Furthermore, the trade marketing team has been expanded by three to five.

* Running a bi-annual trade engagement committee, with a cross-section of agents from across the industry.

* Hosting 10 fam trips, across river cruise and escorted touring product, to a record 100 agents.

* The launch of a new e-learning platform - ‘Riviera Explorer’ - which represents the operator’s most significant investment to date in digital trade support. The platform already has over 1000 users, half of whom are new-to-brand.

* Introducing an internal trade app, which allows key account managers to track their agent visits and outcomes. To date it has reduced the time spent on administration tasks by around 50%.

* Enhancing relationships with both The Travel Network Group and Advantage Travel Partnership

Vicky Billing, Riviera Travel head of trade and partnerships UK & Ireland, said: “We constantly listen to agent feedback and shape our approach in terms of being easy to do business with and offering the best possible support. It’s vital for us to partner with everyone we can, including retail, online and homeworkers, whether they be in a store, working remotely or in a contact centre. 

“It’s been particularly satisfying to see travel agents who have never sold Riviera making bookings on a regular basis. We have fantastic momentum with our established partners, and are now starting to see new partnerships begin to flourish too."