Between June and November 2027, Riviera's George Eliot ship will operate exclusively for solo passengers on the Rhine and Danube rivers. George Eliot's deployment means Riviera will offer 19 departures for solo passengers next year.
Speaking at the Riv Awards in central London on Thursday (26 March), Vicky Billing, Riviera Travel's trade partnerships director for the UK and Ireland, confirmed solo passenger bookings were 25% up year-on-year across the board, while 25% of George Eliot's capacity for 2027 has been sold.
A TTG poll, published in September after Riviera's George Eliot announcement last year, revealed 73% of readers believed the operator would dedicate a second river ship to the solo traveller market in the future.
When asked if Riviera would add more capacity for solo passengers, Billing said: "We're not sure yet, but we are always open to evolving given the success."
She added: "The real standouts for us are the 14-night itineraries. They're 50% sold, with one already fully sold out.
"At a business level, we’re more than 25% versus same time last year on solo passenger sales across all products, and an even stronger +52% on solo river cruise bookings."
'A cracking peaks'
Billing said there was "an opportunity" for Riviera to convert demand for long-haul products or for the US to European river cruises.
"We had a cracking peaks in January and February. It was record breaking for revenue and passengers," she continued.
"Things dropped off in March with the Middle East crisis, however things started to change again around 18 or 19 March. We're not quite on track again for March but we're actually ahead of March last year."
'Niche' sector
New Riviera Travel chief executive Matt Luscombe told agents at the awards the operator would be "raising the bar through investments in technology, significantly accelerating our innovation and differentiation of our holiday products".
Billing said many of the changes would come about thanks to the recent appointment of Travelopia's James Golding to the role of chief experience officer at Riviera Travel.
Luscombe added: "One thing that is clearly working very well, and that will remain principal to Riviera, is our partnership with the UK and Ireland trade.
"River cruising is a niche sector, and we rely on you to sell the category and then sell our brand to your customers."
Luscombe said agents were "critical" to attracting new guests. "We want to be easy to work with, we want to listen to your feedback. We want to deliver on our promises to you and your customers, and we want to keep improving all aspects of what we do and how we support you," he added.
