Traveltalk was on the VIP guest list of more than 150 best-selling agents, partners and media at the event held to publicise and promote the company’s India product.
“I’m just so excited and feel so passionate about supporting people traveling to India, because I really do think it’s a country that changes you,” said Alice Ager (above), Managing Director of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, Australia & New Zealand.
The company currently offers a 13-day ‘India’s Golden Triangle & The Sacred Ganges’ river cruise that covers Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. There’s also a 16-day cruise and rail option with ‘The Sacred Ganges & The Maharajas’ Express’.
As guests enjoyed some energetic traditional dancing and chowed down on delicious Indian food, Ms Ager revealed plans to turn Uniworld into a “super brand”.
“So it’s been nine months since Apollo, which is one of the world’s largest private equity funds, acquired TTC. They are incredibly astute in business and very fast learners – they’ve learned about our businesses very quickly.
“It’s with great excitement and huge deep relief that I can tell you that their vision is very much aligned with ours.
“Uniworld is going to be taken to another level. We’ll be chasing the luxury traveller like never before. We’re evolving into a travel company that offers all things to a luxury guest.”
Ms Ager said that Apollo would be investing heavily in the brand in a bid to position it at the top of the river cruise market.
“We will have eight new build ships already under order, and some of them already underway in the shipyards of Europe, increasing our capacity by 40% in the next five years. It’s pretty huge.”
The first ship, the S.S. Emilie, will launch next March. “She epitomises style, art, culture and beauty. She’s going to take our onboard experience to another level.”
Ms Ager also revealed that Uniworld’s partnership with Golden Eagle luxury trains would be expanded and that the Luxury Gold brand would now come into her team’s portfolio.
“These are fabulous, beautiful, five-star boutique hotels, with Michelin star dining experiences included.
“We’re in front of luxury clients every single month, doing our consumer events around Australia and New Zealand, so why aren’t we talking about Luxury Gold? We already do a lot of cruise and land combinations so this just makes so much sense.
“From 2027 we will have this perfect combinability that is going to become our superpower as Uniworld and Luxury Gold.
“While all of this is not going to happen overnight, it’s coming. It’s going to be big, it’s going to be very exciting and it’s certainly an extraordinary time to be part of TTC.”
