BEYOND the Rhine, Main and Danube, where might river cruise expansion come across Europe?
The answer, according to Scenic Tours Group founder & managing director Glen Moroney, could be determined by “break-throughs” into “smaller niche rivers.”
“There’s a gamut of them in Europe,” Moroney says, adding it will only be made possible with smaller vessels than what is currently the river cruise norm.
“There are many other places you can go river cruising but it comes down to the size of the ship and the economics with European cost structure makes it very difficult to work.
Moroney estimates that pax sailing on smaller ships due to the narrower rivers will be subjected to significantly higher prices.
“A smaller ship has nearly the same running costs as a 135 metre Space-Ship,” he explained to Cruise Weekly while in Europe.
“It’s disproportionate. Cabin costs would be very high, around $1,000 a day. There’s a lot of opportunities but the economics is the hard part,” Moroney commented.
Quizzed where he thinks new opportunities in Europe may arise, Moroney suggested the Elbe River, which runs from the North Sea through Germany and the Czech Republic.
He flagged a cruise between Prague to just outside Berlin as one potential route. However, the Elbe is notorious for “drying up” once every three to four years, a gamble which could prove risky and costly.
He added because of the Elbe’s shallow waters, a new ship would need to be developed, requiring a very low draft of about 1.2m, which can’t be too long or too heavy, while passenger numbers would need to be kept low and there would be fewer balconies.
The Douro River, which passes through Spain and Portugal, also presents an untapped market, Moroney told Cruise Weekly.
North Africa may also be on the cards in the future.