Rivers are rolling in Down Under millions as Aussies lured by cruise boom

AUSTRALIA travel companies are tipping millions into building luxurious new ships as river cruising’s popularity booms.

APT rivership AmaReina in Durnstein.

THREE Australian travel companies are tipping more than half a billion dollars into building luxurious new ships to cater to the buoyant river cruising market.

Australian Pacific Touring (APT), formed in Melbourne in 1927 by current owner Geoff McGeary’s father Bill, is investing more than $200 million euros ($295 million) in new ships including the 164-capacity MS AmaReina and MS AmaSonata.

Scenic Tours, founded by Australian Glen Moroney in 1986, and its sister company Evergreen Tours, are pouring over 160 million euro ($A240 million) in eight new ships including Evergreen’s Emerald Sky.

“The appeal of river cruising is (that) it’s a relaxed and simple supremely comfortable and convenient way to explore Europe,” said Angus Crichton, Evergreen Tours’ general manager. “The rivers and waterways have traditionally been the arteries around which some of the greatest European cities have developed and river cruising takes guests to the heart of grand cities like Budapest, Vienna and Cologne.”

Australia is the fifth-largest source of ocean and river cruise passengers in the world, with 760,000 cruises booked in 2013, up 130 per cent over the past five years.

The latest available river cruising figures show nearly 40,000 journeys were booked by Australians in 2012, up 12 per cent year on year.

Scenic Tours Group’ founder Glen Moroney said the 160 million euro investment allowed Scenic to build attractions on board such as a 24 sq m pool on Emerald Sky that converts to a cinema.

In the past five years APT has added seven new ships to its European fleet to cater for increased demand, taking its European fleet to 13.

Debra Fox, APT’s general manager marketing and sales, said that river cruising allows passengers to unpack once while seeing multiple destinations. She said passengers appreciated APT’s fully inclusive tariffs covering food, drinks, tipping, port charges and sightseeing opportunities.

“Europe remains APT’s biggest selling destination for this style of travel (and) it will only continue to grow,” she said. “The volume of early bookings we’ve taken this year as a result of our Europe preview brochure indicates 2015 is going be another successful season.”

Sixteen ocean or river cruising ships worth a total of $4.1 billion are being launched around the world this year, with another eight worth $4.4 billion slated to leave dry dock next year.

The average age of river cruisers is 65, but tour operators are hopeful the new ships will also appeal to a younger demographic.