A-ROSA River Cruises moves ahead with growth plans

The UK market will play a pivotal role in the line’s expansion plans.

A-ROSA will open a UK registered sales and marketing office in early 2019, the first international office to open outside of Germany. In addition, Lucia Rowe has been promoted to the newly created role of UK managing director. New builds and the modernisation of some of the existing fleet are also planned as part of the cruise line’s overall growth strategy.

One of Rowe’s first tasks in her new role will be to assemble a team of on-the-road business development managers, office-based sales executives and a marketing team to work with tour operators, partners and agents on a daily basis.

It is intended for the team to grow brand awareness and expand the line’s partnership network, plus offer greater trade support and host more educationals so that more agents can experience the product.

Rowe said: “These are exciting times for A-ROSA River Cruises and I’m delighted that we are now committed to further growing the UK market going forward. We brought the product into the UK four years ago and it has gone from strength to strength. We will now invest in our own dedicated sales and marketing team who will be both on the road and in the office, supporting the trade and promoting all that A-ROSA River Cruises has to offer.

“The new office and team will mean that we can get behind our trade partners more than ever before. They are of paramount importance to us in the UK market and we look forward to working with them as we grow and develop going forward.”

In addition, having been members of CLIA since entering the UK market, A-ROSA River Cruises will now look at expanding this to become accredited by other relevant leading UK industry bodies.

Globally, A-ROSA River Cruises is finalising its new build strategy for the coming years.

Joerg Eichler, chief executive of A-ROSA River Cruises, said: “Construction of new ships will be instrumental for the growth of A-ROSA River Cruises. This year we experienced demand that we couldn’t fulfill so we need to increase our capacity by building new vessels. The construction of A-ROSA ALVA is already under way and she will launch on the Douro in May 2019. This will be the first of several new additions to the fleet. We also plan the refurbishment and modernisation of some of our existing ships, to ensure our entire fleet meets the expectation of today’s cruisers. The first ship to undergo work will be A-ROSA DONNA this winter.

“Furthermore, we want to continue to be at the forefront of innovation in terms of the multigenerational market on the rivers and will be looking closely at how we develop our ships with this in mind. Sustainability is another area we will be looking at developing going forward.”