Kelly Jackson, EMEA managing director and senior vice-president sales for parent group The Travel Corporation (TTC) Tour Brands, confirmed she is working through plans with new commercial director Cris De Souza to welcome UK and Irish agents onto its river vessels.
Speaking on Trafalgar Verity on Saturday (11 April), Jackson said even though Trafalgar is "not relatively well known" in the UK and Ireland she plans to host agents on ships this year.
Verity and Trafalgar Reverie have launched on the Rhine and Danube rivers initially before another Uniworld charter ship – Harmonie – will start sailing on the Seine next year.
Three more ships – including a new-build that will be chartered back to Trafalgar – will join the fleet in 2028. More vessels are understood to be launching in 2029.
Jackson said: "We're planning to get a lot of agents across. We're not relatively well known in the UK market. We will get multiple trade partners onto multiple fam trips.
"We'll launch some competitions and incentives that are more exclusive with some of the partners that we're working with. The UK will have more trade places probably more than any other region."
Key sales channel
Melissa DaSilva, deputy chief executive and chief sales officer, TTC Tour Brands, revealed more than 70% of TTC's land touring business came via travel agents.
But she admitted even though Trafalgar's debut 2026 programme was 85% sold there had been "some hesitation" in the market about selling the brand's river product.
"Yesterday was the first day we had been on a ship with any customer – ever," she explained. "We're so fortunate Uniworld is our sister brand and we can tap into their teams and knowledge."
DaSilva said one of the reasons Trafalgar's repeat booking rate was so high was because of how much customers enjoyed booking through a travel agent.
She added any commission would go directly to the agent if their customer booked another Trafalgar cruise onboard.
"We also have a really good fam trip rate for advisors that we've just gone out with particularly on our distressed departures," DaSilva continued.
"This year, it is particularly important to get as many agents as possible on the river and the reason for that is we are new. We have room to carry travel agents between now and October.
"We need the travel trade to say 'okay, Trafalgar does know what it is doing and they are delivering a good experience'."
Multi-generational push
She hinted at bigger cabins onboard the new-build ships that would be aimed at the multi-generational market.
"I don't think a lot of people are doing that," she explained. "We will take children as young as five."
Furthermore, she revealed just 17% of existing Trafalgar customers had taken a river cruise before while 74% said they wished to sail on a river ship.
'We're not going to be Viking'
In November 2024, TTC was acquired by US private equity firm Apollo which led to $500 million investment into its brands, largely allocated to building new river ships for Trafalgar and Uniworld.
"Another reason why we came into this market is we had access to a level of investment that we did not have previously," she added.
"We're also able to introduce people to the Trafalgar brand who are interested in taking a river cruise. Of the guests booked to sail with us for 2026, around 35% are past Trafalgar guests," DaSilva stressed.
"We want to make sure we're attracting guests who are looking for immersive experience on land. We think that's where we have the right to win. We're not going to be Viking with 100 ships."
DaSilva said river cruise would represent around 20% of TTC's business by 2029 but admitted the Middle East conflict had had "a significant impact" on booking levels.
"The biggest impact has been on our Oceania and Asia regions because the majority of their flights come through the Middle East," she explained.
"That's been the biggest challenge for us. The impact on the financial markets and the fuel price surge are starting to creep into North America and UK. It's a bit of a wait and see at the moment to see if this is going to calm down."
