Good news in hard economic times: Based upon Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ brand positioning and market presence, the company will now be handling its own sales and sister companies Trafalgar Tours and Brendan will no longer sell into Uniworld’s itineraries.
“As we expanded our distribution in the U.S. market, the contributions we received from our sister companies had decreased. It now makes sense that our sister companies focus on their core product — escorted touring — and we handle the selling of river cruises,” said Guy Young, Uniworld president.
In 2004, The Travel Corporation recognized the growth potential of river cruising and acquired Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. In order to gain immediate distribution and market share, the corporation utilized the support of its various companies, such as Trafalgar Tours and Brendan, to help market and sell Uniworld’s river cruises, both in the U.S. and internationally. Over the past several years, The Travel Corporation continued to invest in building the Uniworld brand with investments targeted to grow and upgrade the Uniworld fleet. Additionally, the company built up a very strong sales and marketing infrastructure in the U.S. and in other important markets around the world.
“On the back of significant investments by our parent company and our own sales and marketing efforts, Uniworld has developed into a very strong global brand. We have achieved preferred status with many of the key retailers in the United States and we have now been consistently recognized as a leading small ship cruise line by Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure,” Young stated.
The Travel Corporation has expressed solid optimism about the future of Uniworld and river cruising.
“In 2009, during a global recession, our ownership went ahead with significant refurbishments on our existing fleet and also introduced two new luxury ships — one in Europe along the Danube and the other in Egypt along the Nile,” Young pointed out. “We are very fortunate that our parent company has the financial resources to help us grow and expand and we will certainly seek out new opportunities in the future.”
Uniworld offers more than 500 departures in regions including Europe, Russia, China, Egypt, the Ukraine and Africa. The line is bringing out two new ships this year: the River Beatrice in Europe, with 80 percent of staterooms boasting French balconies, and the all-suite River Tosca, debuting in Egypt.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
www.uniworld.com
