Riviera Travel River Cruises has appointed family-owned business Travel the World (TTW) as its new general sales agent (GSA) for Australia.
Riviera Travel said it made the switch to TTW in an effort to expand and evolve the brand’s footprint in Australia, and maximise opportunities for both the five-star line and travel agents in the Australian marketplace.
TTW began representing Riviera Travel in Australia on 1 January, succeeding Cruise Traveller and Cruiseco, which have partnered with the cruise line since it entered the Australian market in 2016. Cruise Traveller has been acting as the company’s Australian GSA for the past 12 months.
TTW will offer Australian travel agents training and marketing support through its national sales team, led by Sharon Hando (who looks after Queensland and Western Australia), Rachel Javier (who looks after Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory), and Clare Wheeler Smith and Sam Storey (who look after NSW).
“As one of the best priced, five-star European river cruises, Riviera has delivered memorable sailings for the last 35 years,” TTW executive chairman Andrew Millmore said.
“Our purpose in Australia is to maximise awareness and grow sales as the industry rebounds in 2021 for 2022 departures and beyond.
“Agents can easily connect with TTW to benefit from this additional revenue opportunity.”
TTW also has a dedicated team that supports agents with new income streams and resources to cope with the complexities of group travel.
In addition, TTW is committed to financial security and protection with separate trust accounts for client funds, independent annual financial audits and key business accreditations.
Riviera Travel has also brought its new ‘Holiday Happiness Guaranteed’ program to Australia, offering free changes to new bookings, fast COVID cancellation and curtailment protection, a ‘best price’ promise and a ‘happiness’ guarantee.
The new flexible booking policies complement the COVID-safe health and safety protocols already locked in for Riviera Travel’s 12 luxury river ships when they start sailing the rivers of Europe again.
Under the new policy, bookings made before 28 February 2021 may be changed once for free up to 45 days before departure, or within 24 hours if the client’s travel is affected directly by COVID-19.
A happiness guarantee means that if a client is not happy by day two of their cruise, Riviera Travel will refund the cost of the cruise, assist the client to make changes to their air-ticket to return home early and pay the change fees and any airfare increase.
The company recently fast-tracked release of select 2022 departures, with 114 sailings on 11 itineraries already on offer, and fares starting from $1,799 per person for a five-day trip.
