Cosmos has launched the 2018 A-Rosa river cruise programme two months earlier to help agents capture the early booking river cruise market. 

Agents can book Cosmos’ fully packaged A-Rosa cruises with flights, overseas transfers and a VIP private home pick-up service included.

Offering a choice of six ships on four rivers, the programme features 37 cruise itineraries with 297 departures for customers to choose from. Prices lead in from GBP649 per person.

The tour operator has launched an early booking offer for any 2018 holiday booking made before 31 July 2017; the private VIP home pick-up service is available for customers living within a 100 mile radius of their departure airport, an increase of 50 miles.

All A-Rosa cruises with Cosmos are bookable via the new agent portal cosmos.co.uk/agents.

Janet Parton, Cosmos’ head of trade sales, said: “We are delighted to have the whole A-Rosa product range on sale earlier than last year to help agents maximise sales in this important period. We’re confident that A-Rosa’s key USP’s such as the family offering, spas on all ships and flexible dining will appeal to our customer base. With our newly launched website, sales team and planned training, we will be working hard to communicate this to agents in the coming months.”

Lucia Rowe, head of A-Rosa UK, said: “This is the next phase in our growth strategy – having 297 departures on sale already with such a well-known brand is something we haven’t had in the UK before. We know that river cruise customers book up to a year in advance and we will be working together with Cosmos to get our key messages out to travel agents.”