European Waterways Reaches Out to Travel Agent Channel

It’s going to be a good year for experiential travel, and European Waterways already is feeling the effects. With 70 percent of its customers coming from the North American market, the European barge company already has seen its business rise 20 percent for 2018. But the company is really hoping that reaching out to the North American travel agent community will push sales even higher in the new year.

“Barging is not river cruising; it’s getting very close up with the community we are going through, the small villages, with a small number of people,” said Owner and Managing Director Derek Banks. “And it isn’t just sitting and eating — we might go through 20 locks where you can get on and off and walk or bike up to the next one.”

North American travel agents bring in 15-20 percent of European Waterways customers; the rest come through its partnerships with Abercrombie & Kent and specialist barge agents. But for 2018, the supplier is hoping its series of webinars, its online reservation system and its 10 percent commission plan — as well as “deep discounts as we get close to departure” and fam trips — will help introduce more agents to the brand.

Banks thinks 2018 will be a good year for the North American market; “Americans have gotten over the fear of traveling to France and they are booking well,” he said. “We’re doing good strong business in France; Ireland is sold out and Scotland is not far behind; Holland is pretty busy; and Italy is up about 50 percent over this time last year.”

European Waterways will be sailing one new boat in 2018; its second barge in Scotland, which debuted in the summer, was the company’s biggest investment ever. It also is considering adding one in Burgundy, France, “but nothing is definite yet,” Banks said.

With offices in Windsor, European Waterways also is excited about the Royal wedding; its Magna Carta and Downton Abbey cruises visit the castle where the wedding will be held, and its customers get to visit St. George chapel, where the marriage will take place, every week.

Banks noted that the canals of Europe “were built for a reason, to transport wine and lumber, and they go off into the rural areas where everything is really pretty and really close up, sometimes just 15 feet from our sundeck. All the canals go off into the countryside, the vineyards. We’ll go and visit the loch house and hear about the fruit trees; in Strasbourg, we have a delivery of fruits and vegetables from a chap in a little rowboat alongside the barge. It’s all very small and personal.”

In short, he said, “the industry is holding its own and we’re looking good for 2018 and 2019.”