Senior leaders from river sector gave their advice to delegates during the opening session of Clia’s first Asia River Cruise & Destination Forum in Vietnam yesterday (April 10).

Marco Rosa, vice-president of sales and marketing at Pandaw said emphasising to customers the ease of travel was an important selling point.

“[In Europe], potentially you can drive all the way from Basel to Amsterdam on the roads. Asia is very different. I don’t know many people who would want to hire a car in Saigon. [River cruising] is the best way to see it in my opinion.”

Echoing his view, Stuart Perl, UK managing director of AmaWaterways said those who cruise in Asia with the line tended to be travellers “who have been there done it in Europe and want to be more adventurous” although agents should also look to target customers who want something new “but maybe don’t have the confidence themselves to come out here independently”.

Asked when during the year was best to send clients to Asia, CroisiEurope’s UK sales director John Fair, advised that agents should not be deterred from offering trips outside of line’s traditional peak-periods.

“We sail from July through to April,” he explained. “August to September which is seen as the wet season sometimes it rains for maybe 45-mins to an hour a day and the rest of the time it’s gloriously hot.

“So I think it’s a great time to come and in terms of air fares it’s on the lower side so people can sometimes get better value for money. So you’re safe to offer Mekong cruising for your customers for the entire period.”

Perl added: “We operate August to April. Those clients who are coming out for the first time and who perhaps have the budget to stick to then obviously peak season isn’t the time to come here because it’s the most expensive pricing so towards then outside of that is more competitive.”

Rosa also stressed for agents to “don’t just target cruise passengers, because I don’t think Asia is a river cruise just for people who have cruised before.”

“We see on our product a large percentage of people who have never cruised before on river or ocean but want to just explore the destination. Also consider families.

“People think it is an itinerary just for couples but I would strongly recommend that it is also for families. I did it myself back in October and it was an amazing experience – very interesting cultural experience for children.”

Fair told delegates he believed it was “key” that when discussing the possibility of booking a Asian river cruise they used videos “to bring it to life”.

“It is very difficult for someone to get their head round [compared with] a typical river cruise in Europe they might have taken but it’s a very different kettle of fish here,” he said.

Perl urged agents to “go home with confidence and talk about the fantastic destination that is south-east Asia”.

“Talk to your database about the experiences you’ve had, share your experiences digitally and at consumer events.

“You have a fantastic opportunity to sell a high-ticket product and earn lots of money just go home and do it.”