Q: It was about a year ago that you announced the launch of this itinerary and now here we are it’s up and running. You must be both delighted and excited?
A: Absolutely and you know it all really started from our guests and their feedback. We do something called our ‘Wish List’ survey where we ask our guests where it is that they want to travel next, how they want to travel and who they want to travel with. France is always at the top of the list.
We already had the Seine, Rhone and Saone rivers so it really was natural to come here next as this was the last of the rivers that we weren’t on.
The other big reason to come here was from seeing the way people want to travel from that wish list. Visiting the must-see sites is always at the top but the idea of travelling in an active way and getting immersed in local experiences keeps rising to the top and I think this destination really delivers on that.
Q: How have the local communities in Bordeaux welcomed Avalon?
A: They’ve been incredible. They really want to grow this business and have ships come here. They have the docking locations and they have a product – if you want to call a travel experience a product – that really delivers authentic experiences.
Working with people who really want you here is always the best way to build new itineraries.
Q: We’re cruising aboard Avalon Artistry II which has just been refurbished as part of a fleet-wide upgrade Why is this important?
A: It’s interesting because we refurbish the ships constantly. It’s one of the beautiful things about river cruising that you have at least two months every winter when you’re not sailing so we get the opportunity to do work every year.
What we did is just change and refresh this ship to the new Avalon style. It doesn’t mean that people who love Avalon and have been onboard before are going to come onboard and go, “Oh, what is this?”.
It is just a modern take on our style, which is always contemporary, light and bright, and a refinement and evolution of our brand to being what is in style today. These are the changes that we’ve made across the fleet to continue to elevate our product.
Q: How is the Australian market performing in terms of Avalon?
A: Australia is definitely coming back. It took a little bit longer than the North American market but it’s absolutely happening and the market is really important to us for a few different reasons.
One of the things people love about Avalon is that you get a mixture of different travellers from all over the world. Our guests don’t necessarily want to sail only with Americans or only with Canadians or with Australians. They like this international style that we have.
Another reason the Aussie market is really important to us is because it is also the market that probably most appreciates our style on board, which we describe as relaxed luxury. I think it’s a really good fit for the Australian way of life.
Q: Does your love of Australia also extend to its travel agents?
A: Without them we wouldn’t have a brand, quite honestly. The vast majority of our bookings come through travel advisors.
On the marketing materials that we send out we have a firm call to action to travel advisors and in our brochures we have a section on why advisors are first.
Our job in our marketing is to bring people to our brand via the travel advisor community so they are absolutely important to us.
Q: What about Avalon’s plans for the future?
A: We don’t have details on where our new ships will be sailing but our intention is to grow by about one ship a year. There is a definite intention behind that pace of growth because we don’t want to over saturate our market and have excess capacity.
We want to grow in the places that our guests want to visit and we want to still be able to deliver the outstanding level of service that we’ve become known for but doing that in an intentional way.
Q: River cruising seems to be going from strength to strength. Is that the case with Avalon and are you noticing any specific trends?
A: It is absolutely going gangbusters and it’s been a wonderful thing to experience to have so many people interested in river cruising.
As for trends, I think it’s all about those things I talked about before, in terms of the way people want to travel and what they want to experience. I think we’re delivering that incredibly well by giving them authentic, immersive opportunities, as well as seeing the must see sites and flexibility.
Travellers want flexibility. They want to pick and choose how they do things, and so the excursions, the choice of where you dine and what time you dine, is really important.
I think river cruising needs to answer to those needs and we’re really doing that at Avalon Waterways.
Q: Of course, one of the main reasons for coming to France is the food and wine. I must say, both have been amazing onboard Avalon Artistry II.
A: Well, thank you. I will pass that along to our chef! It’s all about the destination – you’re not going to come onboard and have the same food on the Rhine that you have on the Danube and that you have here in Bordeaux.
Our chefs want to bring the local cuisine to life, because that’s really what a lot of people travel for. I mean, I travel for the food, to try the local cuisine and to experience the destination in that way.
So we buy local products to help bring that experience to life. We’re buying baguettes from town, we’re bringing in the croissants, we’re bringing in a chef to do a canale demonstration and we’re only serving Bordeaux wines so you can really taste the local flavours even while being on board.
Q: Final question. What do you hope people take away with them from a cruise with Avalon Waterways?
A: I want them to make great friends onboard and to feel like they really experienced the destination because river cruising is all about the destination. And with Avalon, I think we take that as far as we can.
