Following the success of the CLIA UK & Ireland Cruise Week, the association is today announcing details of its first ever CLIA UK & Ireland River Cruise Weekend taking place in March and aimed at raising the profile of river cruise holidays within the travel trade and to the consumer, the organisation said on its page on Facebook.

“Via social media, the event will focus on promoting the diversity of destinations available on a river cruise holiday together with the wonderful experiences and service provided by the association’s 17 river members,” CLIA said.

“More British passengers than ever before are taking a holiday on Europe’s waterways, with the most recent figures (2013) showing a rise of 22% in the number of passengers choosing a river cruise taking the total number to almost 110,000 passengers. The growth on Europe’s rivers has been underpinned by a significant increase in the number of new cruise ships with more than 25 being launched this year on the world’s waterways,” it said

CLIA UK & Ireland director, Andy Harmer, said: ‘More travel agents than ever are now selling river cruises but we want to grow this interest still further. Together with our 17 river members, we will highlight the very best of river cruising – whether that’s in Europe, America, Africa or Asia, there are just so many fantastic places to visit.”

He continued: “We will ask travel agents and guests to Tweet ‪#‎lovecruise with a wonderful photo of a river cruise destination or experience explaining why they love river cruising. We will be collecting river cruise stories, blogs and videos so that we can maximise exposure across all social media platforms. We are also placing additional river specific training modules on our website to help agents make the most of the River Cruise Weekend which runs from 26 – 30 March. This segment of cruising is growing at a tremendous pace and we want to ensure agents are best placed to take advantage of the opportunities this brings.”