VIENNA – River cruising continues to grow, and cruise lines say there's room for expansion on Europe's rivers. That was the message at the ASTA River Expo, where river cruise line executives addressed 1,600-plus travel advisors in attendance.
Nine river cruise lines brought 15 ships to Vienna for the fourth annual event. Executives talked about new ships coming this year and next, and on the horizon is Celebrity River Cruises, which will begin sailing in 2027 and open bookings this year.
"There's still room to expand," said AmaWaterways co-founder and CEO Rudi Schreiner. "I think there's a bright future. There will be new entities coming into the market. The more, the happier. Everybody brings in some new ideas and so on."
But growth is not without challenges. Viking CEO Torstein Hagen said docking space is a "critical resource" that can take years to secure. Schreiner brought up concerns about overtourism in villages.
Tauck vice president of global sales and reservations Steve Spivak discussed tourism's impact on small communities in an interview at the event and said river lines "have to take a hard look at how we manage the impact on destinations."
"The last thing you want is a situation where the locals are no longer benefiting from river cruising," Spivak said.
Kristin Karst, co-founder and chief brand ambassador of AmaWaterways, said it was a priority to partner with destinations.
"We want to make sure that we do partnerships with villages and countries in the most meaningful, purposeful way, and that, of course, our achievements become their achievements," Karst said.
With rapid expansion, operators are tasked with introducing more travelers to river cruising. Michelle Palma, the North America executive vice president for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, said there's an opportunity to lure ocean cruisers.
"I often say, when you take a cruise, you travel to the heart of the country, but when you take a river cruise, you travel the arteries of the country," she said.
Travel + Leisure news director Paul Brady said on a panel moderated by Travel Weekly editor in chief Arnie Weissmann that taking a river cruise is like "staying in a fabulous hotel in the heart of the European city where I can walk right off the ship and see great stuff."
Brady said when he took his first river cruise, he realized the value in touring Europe via its waterways.
"I think we need to do a better job -- as the media, as advisors, as an industry -- of communicating what it's like," he said.