All-inclusive tour operator APT has heralded its small ship program as “the next big thing” in global cruising, comparing it to the firm’s flagship ‘Magnificent Europe’ itinerary.
Speaking recently to Cruise Weekly, APT Group managing director Chris Hall and chief marketing officer Debra Fox said small ship cruising will be a major part of the company’s growth.
“We think Venice to Istanbul is the new Magnificent Europe so on a small ship experience that has so many similarities to that river cruise – we see that as the next big thing,” Fox forecasted.
Last year, APT took ownership of the MS Sea Explorer, its third small ship in partnership with Noble Caledonia (CW 10 Jun).
It has revealed it will rename the vessel MS Hebridean Sky to align it with sister ships MS Island Sky and MS Caledonian Sky, with all three vessels featuring in the newly released Luxury Small Ship Preview brochure, which was released to agents last week.
“We’ve worked hard to differentiate ourselves in the small ship market, acquiring the best ships globally in the expedition category,” Fox added.
MEANWHILE, Hall added that the company’s river cruising arm continued to go from strength to strength and that he saw no end in sight to the river cruise boom.
APT will launch two new river ships in Europe this year in the AmaVista and AmaSerena, while the AmaDara will begin operating on the Mekong from Aug.
Three more ships will follow in 2016, with AmaViola, AmaStella and RV Samatha to join the fleet, while Travelmarvel will also have its own vessel – Princess Panhwa – on the Irrawaddy in Myanmar.
“If we’re just talking around the Australian market, we constantly see the bucket topping up. [We’re] eagerly awaiting the release of the CLIA stats to see what’s moved because when they were released last year based on 2013, I think the number was something around 49,000 people travelled on a river cruise in 2013.
“So I don’t think the bubble is going to burst for a long time”.
