The River Cruise Line has boosted its sales team with the appointment of Mark Riddle as sales and business development manager. 

Mark will take up his new role from 1 June and will be out on the road nationwide, building on existing partnerships with independent agents and developing new relationships with those who are new to selling river cruising.

The River Cruise Line’s Tim Fleming will continue to be responsible for relationships with multiple agents and both will also be tasked with growing trade support for Arena Rail Holidays (formerly Diamond Rail).

The announcement of the growth of the sales team comes several months after the acquisition of The River Cruise Line and its sister brand by Arena Travel.

Managing director of Arena Travel, Steve Goodenough said: “We have been delighted that the first cruises of the season all departed as planned and that feedback from those travelling with us has been excellent. To date 67% of bookings have been retained and we understand that some are still being processed, so expect the eventual total to be around 75%. The addition of Mark to The River Cruise Line team comes at an important time as we prepare to launch the 2018 programme later this month. Although we are looking ahead to next year, our focus is very much on delivering the 2017 sailing programme as originally planned and Mark’s role will be crucial in offering reassurance to our trade partners, as well as driving interest from new agents in both the river cruise and rail products.”

Mark joins the team from Arena Travel’s head office. Prior to joining Arena, Mark spent 10 years at Newmarket Holidays as retail sales manager, where he was responsible for introducing the operator to the trade across the whole of the UK and Ireland, working with both independent agents and multiples. He also spent time handling retail sales for Oxford-based Transun.