VANCOUVER — Travel advisors at last night’s luxury travel event in Vancouver heard all the latest updates from not one, not two, but three high-end suppliers: Riverside Luxury Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Rovos Rail.

Stunning scenery with Rovos Rail

The veritable triple threat of luxury travel product teamed up for the Vancouver presentation, plus another event in Victoria.

Riverside Luxury Cruises, in business for just about a year, has already made a star appearance in Travel + Leisure’s World Best Awards, as one of the top 10 favourite river cruise lines of 2024, as voted by readers.

Hapag-Lloyd meanwhile is no stranger to accolades. All five of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ ships have received five-star ratings from Insight Guides (formerly Berlitz Cruise Guide), giving Hapag-Lloyd the position as the ‘best fleet worldwide’ (Insight Guides Cruising & Cruise Ships 2024). Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ luxury ships are EUROPA and EUROPA 2. In the expedition sector, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has three modern sister ships: HANSEATIC nature, HANSEATIC inspiration (put into service in 2019), and HANSEATIC spirit (added in 2021).

Sailing with Hapag-Lloyd to the farthest corners of the earth

And Rovos Rail is a long-time favourite for train enthusiasts looking for a luxe travel experience in Southern Africa. Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2024, Rovos has been delighting travellers seeking that extra special something from their trip for decades, with many more to come.

In keeping with the ‘three-for-one’ theme, Travelweek connected with all three companies in the midst of the B.C. roadshow. Read on for the latest from Riverside Luxury Cruises’ Director of Sales, Canada, Peter Ouzounov; KAI’s Edith Beaudoin, who in May 2024 was named Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ dedicated National Sales Manager for North America; and KAI’s Brandon Appel, representing Rovos Rail.

Travelweek: All three of you are co-hosting the B.C. events. What made you decide to team up?

Ouzounov: “I’m really excited to team up with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Rovos Rail for these fantastic and exclusive events. Each of our companies represents a unique facet of luxury travel – river cruising, ocean cruising and rail travel. This partnership is all about giving travel advisors a chance to learn about a broad spectrum of luxury travel experiences. It’s a great way to expand their portfolio and find new ways to wow their clients.”

Beaudoin: “While there is no official connection, each of the three provide guests with superior service and an industry-leading F&B experience while on board. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Rovos Rail and Riverside Luxury Cruises represent the peak of luxury in their respective industry segment, and I believe a passenger that enjoys one would have an equally amazing experience while traveling with either of the other two.”

Appel: “Rovos Rail has a long-standing relationship with our cruising industry partners from all over the world. Our guests are like-minded travellers, and frequently combine their cruises with train journeys all over the world. Our growing partnerships with cruising companies like Riverside Luxury Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises have a mutual benefit for all involved and positions Rovos Rail in the right direction.”

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Europa 2

Travelweek: What’s new with each of your companies that you’d like to put on the radar for Canadian travel advisors?

Ouzounov: “Riverside Luxury Cruises is making great strides in gaining recognition in the travel world. I’m thrilled to share that we’ve been recognized in the 2024 Travel + Leisure’s World Best Awards for river cruising – a testament to the exceptional quality and experience we deliver in under a year of operation. This year, we also proudly launched our third ship, Riverside Debussy, expanding our fleet alongside Riverside Mozart and Riverside Ravel. Our all-inclusive luxury river cruises now cover the Rhine, Danube, and Rhône rivers.

Riverside Mozart’s Deck Bar

“Travel advisors will find plenty of benefits with us, too. We’re offering a generous 20% commission rate, and our 2025 itineraries are now open for booking. With over 170 luxurious voyages to choose from, there are endless opportunities to delight clients and generate repeat business.”

Beaudoin: “Something I find exceptional with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises in both the luxury and expedition segments ­­– and while this may not be new, it is something that many people in our market are not aware of – are the innovative and unique itineraries we offer. That includes our Golf & Cruise exclusive packages in Australia, Europe or Central America, or going to remote places such as the polar regions, the Amazon and the Pacific Islands such as Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Some of our new itineraries are the Northern Lights in Scandinavia, or exploring Lapland in March 2025, and our very unique Circumnavigation Antarctica from Ushuaia to Christchurch.”

Appel: “Rovos Rail is celebrating our 35th anniversary and we have had a year filled with wonderful celebrations all over the world with our clients and partners.

“Rovos is a family-owned and operated company employing close to 500 employees and in turn their families and communities. This would not have been possible without our CEO, Rohan Vos, being single-mindedly determined to succeed 35 years ago when he purchased the first carriage. Today we have six trains with 21 carriages each. As of 2024, Rovos has 11 journeys travelling to nine Southern African countries seeing the best our beautiful continent has to offer.”

Reichsburg Imperial Castle in Cochem

Travelweek: Is the luxury travel boom still going strong for each of you?

Ouzounov: “The luxury travel boom continues to thrive in Canada, and Canadians are increasingly recognizing the exceptional value of luxury cruising. The appeal lies in the convenience and seamless experience we offer. Travel advisors can simply book their clients on one of our luxurious journeys and rest easy knowing they’ll enjoy impeccable service from the moment they arrive until their departure. This level of service and ease resonates strongly with Canadian travellers, making luxury cruising a preferred choice for those seeking both opulence and practicality.”

Beaudoin: “Yes, the desire to travel, and travel well, continues to be at the top of many Canadians’ priority list. While Hapag-Lloyd Cruises (HLC) is more established in the European market, our bookings from North America continue to increase year on year. I believe this is largely due to the fact that HLC is widely recognized as a brand that provides a luxury experience, with over 135 years of experience, unlike many of the U.S.-based cruise lines.”

Appel: “Rovos has always had a strong footprint in the North American market with years of direct sales and shows. Admittedly our Canadian sales efforts have been the harder task with our new sales manager for this region, Armand du Plessis, planning extensive travel there in months to come. We are seeing an uptake in the market with more enquiries coming in and with the support of our marketing company, Kartagener Associates (KAI), we hope to reach new heights in the coming months.”

Travelweek: Anything else you’d like to share?

Ouzounov: “I welcome travel advisors to reach out to me and I will be happy to share more information on how they can earn more and generate repeat business with Riverside Luxury Cruises. Travel advisors can contact me at P.Ousounov@Riverside-Cruises.com. I also highly encourage travel advisors to go to www.Riverside-Cruises.com/TA to register and work with us.”

Beaudoin: “Not only do we stand out with the highest space-to-guests ratio on both our luxury liner the MS Europa 2 and the purpose-built expedition HANSEATIC inspiration, but our crew-to-guests ratio is almost 1:1 with guest-facing crew all formed in European hospitality schools, it’s a career they chose. And all our seven restaurants for MS Europa 2 and 3, for our expedition fleets, are included, even 24-hour room service. That’s why I joined and what I’m excited about. Luxury advisors need new trusted products to offer to their clients, who are looking for something different yet refined. As a European luxury brand, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises offer this and more.”

Appel: “For any product updates, enquiries, commission, or contract related issues please reach out to our North American sales manager, Armand du Plessis, at armand@rovos.co.za or +27 (0) 83 521 3373.”

For more details see https://riverside-cruises.com/en/, https://www.hl-cruises.com/ and https://rovos.com/ .