Cruise.co.uk has entered the river cruise market and aims to make £2 million worth of bookings in its first year.

The cruise retailer has trained up four river cruise specialists in its call centre and will launch a dedicated section on its website targeting customers in the 55-plus age bracket.

It has also agreed commercial terms with leading operators, such as US giant Viking River Cruises.

Although not expected to appeal to a younger audience, the agency believes river cruising is on the verge of the sort of expansion ocean cruising has seen in the last decade.

Lisa Merrick, marketing manager, predicts river cruising will continue to drive growth in the sector as the recent rapid expansion of ocean cruising starts to slow. “Demand in the UK for cruise holidays has been growing exponentially for a decade, but that growth will slow,” she said.

“River cruising is at a point where sea cruising was 10 years ago – the market is expanding rapidly and we believe it is the next big growth area for the travel industry. A key factor for this is the typical river cruise passenger who is predominantly an older customer and the over-55 age group is the fastest growing demographic in the UK, with large disposable incomes.”

Although capacity has increased significantly and standards on board ships have also improved, said Merrick, the limited facilities on river cruise vessels reduces their appeal to families and younger holidaymakers.

Andy Harmer, Ace business development director, said growth in river cruising would come from the city break market.

“We need more profile for river cruising and, if they get behind it, cruise.co.uk will do that,” he said.

Harmer suggested agents should sell river cruising on the basis of destinations, citing the Nile’s well-established river cruise reputation.