by Eric Bowman
Last updated: 4:45 PM ET, Sun March 16, 2025
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) once again set a record for its River Cruise Expo event.
Over 1,600 attendees descended upon Vienna March 12-16 for the 4th annual River Cruise Expo, marking a significant increase from the over 600 that attended the first event in 2022.
"The ASTA River Cruise Expo isnt just an eventits an opportunity to transform your business, said Zane Kerby, ASTA President and CEO. Theres no substitute for firsthand experience, no better way to build expertise, and no greater advantage than the relationships youll forge here. If you want to stand out in the travel industry and sell these products better than ever before, this is where it happens."?
This year, 16 ships from 10 river cruise brands were well represented and available for all attendees to tour. They included AMADEUS (Nova), AmaWaterways (AmaBella, AmaLea, AmaMagna, AmaSonata), Avalon (Illumination, Passion and Impression), Riverside Luxury Cruises (Mozart), Riviera (MS William Wordsworth), Scenic Group (Scenic Opal and Emerald Luna), Tauck (MS Savor), Uniworld (S.S. Maria Theresa) and Viking (Rinda and Ingvi). The AmaMagna was only available on the first day of the conference for touring before departing.?
In addition to education sessions focused on advisor growth, the event held a general session where attendees heard from a panel of media editors, updates from the river cruise lines, and more. The highlight was easily the fireside chat between river cruise icons Rudi Schreiner, the co-founder of AmaWaterways, and Torstein Hagen, the founder of Viking cruise line, and moderated by Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion Travel Group.?
Torstein Hagen, the founder of Viking cruise line (left), and AmaWaterways co-founder Rudi Schreiner (right) speak at the 2025 ASTA River Cruise Expo (Photo Credit: ASTA)
The event also held a trade show day with 108 companies attending for advisors to connect with. Its an important place for suppliers to connect with top notch advisors, as noted by Marilyn Conroy, Executive Vice President of Business Development for Riviera Travel.
This is our second year here, Conroy said. [Our recent changes] are a direct result of the interactions we had with so many of those agents last year, and they really are qualified agents.
The events growth mirrors that of the river cruise sector itself C things are booming in this industry and savvy advisors are cashing in. Even those that have never sold a river cruise before spent their money to be here to learn how to capitalize on this market.?
When asked how many advisors were new to river cruising, tons of hands shot up during the general session. Kerby quoted Alex Pinelo of AmaWaterways during his opening remarks, addressing travel advisors in the audience saying, If you do this right, you can get two years of education in four days.
"As someone who is new to the river cruise industry, attending this event provided valuable insights into the river cruise industry," said Russell Davis of Down With Davis. "It also, allowed me to gain a comprehensive understanding of the various brands available and acquire essential information and contacts to better serve my clients. I was particularly impressed by the extensive range of cruise itineraries offered, as well as the diverse river cruise brands that cater to different client preferences. I was able to take a bit of a deep dive to find more information first hand rather than searching the internet or webinar."?
?
Focus on Education?
Educating advisors is at the core of what ASTA does. This years event brought an even greater focus to this mantra for ASTA, and advisors took notice.
The emphasis ASTA has placed on education this year is truly remarkable, said Asia Lantz of Travel with Asia. The expanded educational sessions, particularly those geared toward business growth, were a major highlight for me. Their commitment to elevating professionalism in our industry through programs like the Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) underscores how dedicated ASTA is to supporting agents at every stage of their careers C whether theyve been in the business for one year or forty. This focus on education is not just beneficial, its essential for the future of our businesses.
There were sessions on river cruise selling strategies, social media and marketing sessions, ASTA member benefit sessions, how to land media opportunities to grow your brand and your business, and many more.?
Last year, as a first-time attendee, I enjoyed learning more about the cruise lines, but this years structure provided even greater return on investment as a business owner, Lantz said.
Ships, Ships and More Ships
Ship tours also provide advisors a great path to selling. With so many docked here all at once, it offers advisors a chance to further their knowledge on the brands, as well as a plethora of opportunities to create new content for marketing and social media.
As someone who specializes in river cruising, attending this expo annually gives me hands-on experience that directly benefits my clients, Lantz said. Its one thing to share marketing materials from a cruise lines website, but being able to provide my own photos and videosshowing me on the ships, meeting the crew, dining on board, and even speaking with owners and CEOsadds an extra layer of credibility. My clients trust me more because they know I have firsthand knowledge and direct connections with these brands.
Seeing the key executives and sales members of these cruise lines and going on tours with them around the ships arms the advisors with a wealth of information to sell the product better.?
Making and improving connections with all the river cruise suppliers we follow [was most important]," said Hank Schrader of Dream Destinations, who was nominated as a finalist for River Cruise Advisor of the Year. Also touring and especially eating on the different ships C this is most important to make valid comparisons.
Additionally, the river cruise lines in attendance outlined new ships on the horizon:
Amadeus
Amadeus Amara in 2025
Amadeus Aurea in 2026 ?
AmaWaterways
AmaMagdalena in 2025
AmaMelodia in 2025
AmaSofia in 2026
AmaKaia in 2026
AmaRudi in 2027 ?
AmaFiora in 2027
AmaMaya in 2026 or 2027
Avalon Waterways
Complete fleet refresh in 2025
Riverside Luxury Cruises
Riverside Bach coming back in 2027
Riverside Mahler coming back in 2028
Riviera Travel
Riviera Radiance in 2025
Riviera Rose in 2025
Scenic Group
Emerald Astra in April 2026
Emerald Kaia in May of 2026
Tauck
Serene in 2026
Lumire in 2026
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
S.S. Elizabeth in 2025
S.S. Emilie in 2026
Viking
26 new river ships to be delivered by 2028
?
What's Ahead for River Cruising??
As most attendees set sail on post expo cruises across the various brands, sights are also set on the future of this event.
The next River Cruise Expo will be held in Amsterdam on March 11-15, 2026.
Its a financial investment to be here, but one that can certainly pay great dividends once the commissions from future river cruise bookings start adding up, especially for those booking groups. The money to be here also helps ASTA in its efforts to further strengthen the travel advisor community.
By attending the River Cruise Expo, youre supporting your trade association and making the valuable work we do promoting and defending the profession possible, Kerby said to attendees. Because were mission driven, every dollar you spend with ASTA increases our ability to fulfill and expand that mission.
Kerby said ASTA will have a base goal of 1,300 advisors next year with the hopes to add more attendees and more ships to keep the event growing. Registration rates range from $999 to $2,399, with General Admission Plus+ and VIP Admission including exclusive benefits such as a newly introduced town hall with ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby, as well as earlier access to select dining and educational sessions, priority booking for post-Expo sailings and more.?
As for the future of the river cruising sector, being mindful of overtourism and being more conscious of sustainability are areas of focus as the industry continues to expand says Schreiner, who is referred to as the Godfather of river cruising.
One thing we are facing everywhere is overtourism and resent from [residents] against too many tourists, Schreiner said. We are trying to more and more use local resources. The farm to table concept is something big.
Theres plenty of room on the Danube and Rhine River to expand river cruising, Schreiner continued. [Destinations are] still working on extending new canals. They are planning a canal from Amsterdam to Paris for example, in 2035 it should be open. It opens new destinations. From our side, I think theres room, plenty of room, in Europe to expand river cruising. Some rivers get crowded. I would say theres quite a lot of traffic on the Douro River already, and in France maybe too, but theres room, theres still room to expand. I think theres a bright future.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
