Testing the Waters with Dori: TMP on the River

Some things just make sense together, but often only after you’ve actually given them a chance: Pizza and pineapple. Chocolate and orange. Rivers and cruising.

That last one doesn’t only make sense for travelers. It’s a great fit for travel advisors, too. The best experience on the river comes when a guest is matched to the right product, even to the right river. And the best person to help with that is, of course, a travel advisor.

Add to that a commission with a comma and there’s no reason a travel advisor shouldn’t be selling river cruises.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of misconceptions about river cruising. My own husband – who has never set foot on a river cruise ship – referred to the ship I’m on as “rinky dink.” I’m on AmaWaterways’ AmaCerto and it’s anything but rinky dink.

For comparison – for him (if he ever reads this), as much as anyone else who might have the same thought – in December we sailed on Lindblad’s National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica. He

Some things just make sense together, but often only after you’ve actually given them a chance: Pizza and pineapple. Chocolate and orange. Rivers and cruising.

That last one doesn’t only make sense for travelers. It’s a great fit for travel advisors, too. The best experience on the river comes when a guest is matched to the right product, even to the right river. And the best person to help with that is, of course, a travel advisor.

Add to that a commission with a comma and there’s no reason a travel advisor shouldn’t be selling river cruises.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of misconceptions about river cruising. My own husband – who has never set foot on a river cruise ship – referred to the ship I’m on as “rinky dink.” I’m on AmaWaterways’ AmaCerto and it’s anything but rinky dink.

For comparison – for him (if he ever reads this), as much as anyone else who might have the same thought – in December we sailed on Lindblad’s National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica. He never would have referred to that ship as rinky dink. It’s just over 367 feet long. AmaCerto is 443 feet long.

To be fair, National Geographic Explorer is a taller ship – six decks vs four on AmaCerto. But AmaCerto has a pool, Explorer does not. AmaCerto has two restaurants. Explorer only has one.

My husband is not alone. A lot of people have the wrong idea about river cruising, even some travel advisors. A fact that AmaWaterways’ director of national accounts for Canada, Sandra Gardiner, knows only too well.

A fan of Travel Market Report’s Travel Market Place conferences, the largest advisor conferences held each year in Canada, (TMR staff collectively polish their knuckles), she was the first to realize combining the educational and networking aspect of those shows with a cruise on a European waterway was a match that just made sense.

Some 100 or so advisors (mostly Canadian) agreed, taking a full week (or more for those who came in early or are extending their stay), to participate in TMR’s first-ever TMP on the River. Approximately a quarter had never been on a river ship before.

“I had never had an experience of going on a river cruise. This was an opportunity for me to be able to learn so I could explain to my clients first hand,” said Amber Sarota-Sullivan, owner of Calgary-based Travel with Amber.

Ellie Froese, an advisor with Manitoba’s based Christy Schmidt’s Travel, also had never been on a river cruise before. When her boss gave her the chance to attend TMP on the River, she called the offer “very tempting.”

“I wanted to experience it so I could tell my clients or possible clients,” she said. “This is not exaggeration, but to me this is almost heavenly… it’s just been tremendous.”

Advisor are walking away with more than the first-hand experience of a river cruise – which, by the way, has included a full slate of excursions (often two in a day), meals in the main dining room and AmaWaterways’ Chef’s Table, nightly entertainment, and more.

Every day has featured one, two, or even three educational seminars, primarily on photography and marketing. Advisors have been encouraged to take photos and videos, and post them on social media.

“There’s been so many learning opportunities, so many fun picture ideas, ways we can explain to our customers how it actually was to be here,” Sarota-Sullivan said.

“My pictures are changing. My Facebook and Instagram posts are better quality,” Froese told TMR.

Expert photographer Dan Galbraith was on hand throughout the cruise and on excursions to give classes, provide hands-on instruction, and even get down and dirty (see below) to show advisors what’s sometimes required to get the best shot.

Marketing expert Ritz M. Perez, of Take the Helm, helped advisors learn how to market using their newly taken photos and videos.

With only two days left of the first-ever TMP on the River, advisors I spoke to told me they are walking away feeling more confident in selling river cruises, and in trying different photography and marketing tactics.

“I’m walking away with a lot of in-depth knowledge,” Froese said, adding she feels better positioned to explain the experience now.

Theresa Carter of RTP Travel Agent in North Carolina – one of the handful of U.S. advisors onboard – agreed, telling TMR she is walking away from the experience more prepared, with “a lot of knowledge and more comfort in selling the product… a lot of the social media I’m more comfortable with too.”

“I was absolutely like ‘I’ll never sell a river cruise,'” Sarota-Sullivan added. “I had no idea who would actually take a river cruise and being here, seeing that everybody, every age can take a river cruise and everybody would appreciate different aspects of it,”

Next year’s TMP on the River will be on the Danube sailing roundtrip from Vienna. The exact date is yet to be set, but based on the enthusiastic response to this year’s event, it’s sure to be sold out.