American cruise travellers are tipped to turn their patronage towards river cruising this year, according to a survey conducted by American Express on its travel counsellors in the United States.
According to the AMEX Travel survey completed by 213 of the firm’s counsellors in the US, Canada and Mexico, more than half of respondents predict strong growth in river bookings in 2015.
Small ship cruising and sailings in Eastern Europe also performed well, while ocean cruising scored an 18% improvement forecast.
Cruising in Asia and Antarctica rounded out the top trends AMEX counsellors predicted for the year, with 14% and 7% growth tipped.
Just over half of agents polled expected an increase in overall cruise bookings this year, while 33% expected little to no change.
The result follows a similar survey report conducted recently (CW 06 Jan) by Cruise Holidays International which also found American cruise pax would be booking voyages in Europe and Asia in larger numbers in 2015.