The growing popularity of Riviera Travel River Cruises’ Yuletide Market cruises in Europe has prompted the five-star cruise line to offer short-break river cruises from Cologne and Budapest over Christmas and New Year for the first time from this December.

Riviera Travel River Cruises is visiting Australian travel agents in three states this week and next to promote the line’s five-star river cruises across Europe.

The UK’s Riviera Travel River Cruises visited Australia recently to mark two years of selling its European river cruises to the Australian market – exclusively through travel agents.

Riviera Travel has launched two new, five-star ships to its fleet this month – the 169-passenger William Wordsmith and 132-guest George Eliot – continuing Riviera’s tradition of naming vessels after famous British authors.

The UK’s Riviera Travel is eyeing a larger slice of the lucrative European river cruise sector out of Australia in response to sales growth for the company jumping by triple digit figures in the first six months of 2018.