The managing director – who is set to relocate to Australia amid a team shake-up – has told TTG river cruising is a very easy product to sell and there are a lot of opportunities for agents to learn about it, including fam trips and marketing material.

“From our side, it’s about educating agents,” he said on Sunday (19 November) during the Advantage Travel Partnership’s annual cruise conference. “We just try and make it as simple as possible for our partners to understand how to sell river cruises, we’re just here to simplify the whole process.”

Towson’s comments come as river cruising has emerged as one of the biggest market opportunities for the trade, as agents haven’t yet tapped into the sector’s full potential.

Data released by Advantage’s cruise community Latitude has shown that river cruising has grown by 58% over the past year – compared to a 166% increase in the ocean segment.

“There is a massive opportunity to catch up [with ocean] so that’s why we do all of this,” said Advantage senior commercial manager Jonny Peat. 

According to Townson, agents can sell better river cruises by attending events onboard river cruises or going on fam trips so that they can “see, touch and feel what we are about”. 

The cruise line – which early last month announced it would charter two ships from rival Riverside Luxury Cruises – has in fact taken 100 agents on fam trips over the last 11 months.

Looking ahead, Uniworld is focused on strengthening the ongoing partnership with the trade by getting more agents on board and educating them about river cruises. 

“We’ve got our quarter one plans already cemented with our key partners, as we continue to evolve and develop,” he added.