On the River Again: Travel Market Place Sets Sail from Amsterdam on the AmaCerto
by Bruce Parkinson
AmaWaterways placed first in the inaugural U.S. News & World Report river cruise ranking.
Travel Market Place (TMP) is on the river again.
A happy mix of Canadian and American travel advisors boarded the AmaCerto in Zaandam, Netherlands yesterday for a custom 10-day cruise. It’s the third-annual TMP On the River event, help in partnership with luxury river cruise line AmaWaterways.
It’s the first sailing of the year for the ship, and it’s looking beautiful with a fresh new livery. From Zaandam – a small, attractive city just 20 kilometres from Amsterdam Schiphol airport – the cruise will visit several less-travelled ports in the Netherlands and Belgium, including Nijmegen, Arnhem, Utrecht, Kampen, Bruinisse, Ghent, Antwerp, Dordrecht and Rotterdam. The cruise ends March 24, docking in Amsterdam’s city centre.
Flight issues delayed the arrival of VIPs including our hostess Sandra Gardiner, AmaWaterways’ Director of Sales for Canada, and photographer Dan Galbraith, who will share tips with advisors during the journey. Sky gods willing, they’ll catch up today.
TMP, Travel Market Report and Travel Market Report CA are represented by TMR Publisher and SVP Brian Israel, sales supremo Jenn Arango, cruise journalist Dori Saltzman and TMR Canada editor Bruce Parkinson.
The TMP On the River event combines professional development, marketing education, and networking with a luxury river cruise. The cruise experience is enhanced with educational sessions on topics including marketing strategies, media relations, AI tools and photography classes, all designed to help advisors boost their sales.
Past itineraries focused on ‘Tulip Time in Holland and a sailing on the Danube River.
Day One got off to a great start in Zaandam, with sunny skies and a temperature warm enough for a beer or coffee on an outdoor patio in the small city’s atmospheric centre. The first dinner set a high standard, with Chef Danny’s recommendations including an Alaskan king crab appetizer, a sumptuous truffle soup and perfectly cooked Angus beef. The pistachio cake dessert precipitated the first belt-loosening event of the trip, but certainly not the last.
Stay tuned for more updates from the waterways of Netherlands and Belgium.
