Scenic Tours has decided to market its Evergreen Tours product to the business events market under the Emerald Waterways brand, which debuted its first newbuild vessels last year.
Taking part in the Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) in Melbourne for the first time ever this week, Evergreen general manager Angus Crichton told Cruise Weekly the firm believes the product has strong appeal for the groups market.
A dedicated Emerald Waterways-branded Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events brochure invites organisers to “experience the Emerald ‘Star Ship’ difference”.
It highlights the “blank canvas” which allowed the designers of its four current ships to offer private meeting space without the need to charter the entire ship or close off restaurants and bars.
“No other river ships have the unique pool/cinema/meeting area in the stern of their ship that can offer exclusive private meetings,” the brochure details.
Group sizes of up to 40 can be catered, with the onboard cinema perfect for presentations.
Other onboard venues include the Horizon Bar and the Sun Deck, and Emerald is also offering to tailor itineraries and shore excursions for groups.
Sample itineraries suitable for the MICE market include an eight-day voyage from Budapest to Nuremburg, with other voyages highlighted including Passau to Budapest, Amsterdam to Basel and Budapest to Bucharest.
Emerald launched the exclusive private meetings last year, and will shortly debut the new Emerald Sun and Emerald Dawn, with a fifth ship – Emerald Belle – on track to launch next year.
