Third Annual Travel Market Place on the River Kicks Off in the Netherlands

The third annual Travel Market Place on the River kicked off Sunday in the Dutch city of Zaandam. During the 10-night hybrid FAM cruise and educational conference, some 75 travel advisors from across the U.S. and Canada will take in multiple educational workshops, daily excursions, and have the chance to participate in the full AmaWaterways experience onboard the AmaCerto.

The ship, which was host to the first TMP on the River two years ago, is a fitting vessel for the conference. It was christened in May 2012 by then Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) president Christine Duffy, who is also a former travel advisor herself. (Duffy is now president of Carnival Cruise Line.)

“It’s great to be back on the AmaCerto in the Netherlands. We launched TMP on the River here two years ago and the feedback from attendees was phenomenal,” said Brian Israel, senior vice president and publisher of Travel Market Report. “Everyone loves the mix of educational content with the full river cruise experience that AmaWaterways provides.”

Leading the education on Monday was Travel Market Report senior editor Dori Saltzman (yours truly) who provided travel advisors with a simple, but powerful, method for creating a unique value proposition that can be used on their websites and in marketing materials.

Saltzman was followed by Rita M. Perez, host of the Strategic Travel Entrepreneur podcast, who talked about how to use active marketing (versus passive marketing) to find new clients. Perez will hold two more sessions over the next nine days.

She will be joined by photographer Dan Galbraith, whose flight out of Canada was delayed a full day, along with TMP on the River’s official host, Sandra Gardner, director of national accounts for Canada at AmaWaterways. Galbraith will offer a series of photography workshops, as well as on-the-ground practical help during excursions.