A-Rosa partners with Shearings Holidays
Shearings Holidays will sell A-Rosa River Cruises in 2018.
The river cruises will be packaged by the operator into commissionable and all-inclusive tours for agents to sell.
It will sell packaged sailings of 19 departures across 12 itineraries on six rivers.
The new partnership will also see Shearings charter one of the A-Rosa ships, the A-Rosa Aqua.
The brands said the trade will be supported by a joint marketing fund to drive awareness and help both operators engage with agents.
Jane Atkins, managing director at Shearings Holidays said: “Partnering with A-Rosa means we can now offer the next level of ship class, in a move to capture a wide audience.
“Historically our river cruise product has featured entry-level ships and the addition of A-Rosa provides us with a new product to attract new customers and we are especially excited about the multi-generational opportunities that our partnership offers.”
Shearings Holidays will package river cruise with coach travel, rail options; including Eurostar and local rail where appropriate, and flights from a range of UK airports.
A dedicated ‘Home Connect’ transfer service is offered to all A-Rosa cruise customers where available.
Shearings and A-Rosa also plan to host fam trips, competitions and VIP trips.
A full coach wrap is being designed for a Shearings coach to give it the appearance of an A-Rosa ship.
Lucia Rowe, head of A-Rosa UK said: “Having our brand on a coach provides unprecedented exposure for us here in the UK and I have no doubt that this will help drive demand into travel agents.
“We want to ensure that agents have all the product knowledge to confidently sell the product and will be working hard with our marketing efforts over the coming months to deliver this.”
Shearings Holidays’ packages with A-Rosa cruises start from £559.
A-Rosa will continue to have its full portfolio available via the Cosmos website, following an announcement in February, which allows for bookings in sterling with flights and airport transfers.
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