First river cruise company to launch management solution for burgeoning creator economy
21 February 2023 – Award-winning luxury river cruise line, AmaWaterways, announced its category-first entry into the creator economy by partnering with Jerne, the world’s leading platform connecting influential travel creators and experience providers.
Complementing and supporting the strong relationships that AmaWaterways has with the travel advisor community, approved creators now have access to apply for, experience, create content for, and promote AmaWaterways river cruises to new audiences around the world.
“Since starting the company in 2002, innovation has always been a driving force in every aspect of our business – from our ship design, creation of itineraries and onboard experiences to our approach to marketing and sales,” said Kristin Karst, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, AmaWaterways. “We are excited to be part of this new collaboration with Jerne ensuring the joys of river cruising are shared with more travelers searching for a personalized vacation experience.”
According to a recent study by Adobe, the creator economy is a multi billion-dollar industry with hundreds of millions of people producing and promoting all types of content for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, blogs, and other platforms, providing an additional avenue for the company’s sales and marketing activities.
“This efficient and innovative platform provides AmaWaterways with an opportunity to work with a broad range of talented content creators and influencers who provide an incredible amount of additional targeted marketing reach – essentially building awareness and providing inspiration to encourage an entirely new group of travelers to discover river cruising,” said Janet Bava, Chief Marketing Officer, AmaWaterways.
Consumer confidence in the quality of a recommendation is key in convincing travelers to try a product that is new to them and, according to Nielsen, 71% of consumers trust advertising opinions and product placement from content creators. Luxury is also top of mind for those looking to the creator economy for inspiration. A recent study by Stelico Consulting Group found that 76% of luxury travelers selected their hotel brand, cruise line or airline based on social media, while 60% said they had previously purchased travel based on a social media post by a celebrity or influencer.
“Whether created by influencers, bloggers, or others, user generated content is an increasingly important and economical channel for influencing the buying decisions of travelers,” said Tim Morgan, CEO, Jerne. “Recognised as a innovator within the river cruise sector, AmaWaterways embraced this new platform and became the first to embed a creator economy strategy into its overall corporate vision.”
In addition to providing creators access to partnership opportunities, Jerne’s proprietary platform gives AmaWaterways an end-to-end solution for controlling all aspects of the relationship – from verifying creator credentials to establishing specific deliverables to the legalities of distribution to the content management itself and important ROI reporting.
Jerne is notably the Official Creator Economy Partner of Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on luxury hospitality, and provides its platform to thousands of hotel, villa, restaurant, spa, tour, and cruise operators around the world.
Creators interested in working with AmaWaterways can begin the process at https://www.jerne.com/amawaterways.
ABOUT AMAWATERWAYS
Family-owned and operated for 20 years, AmaWaterways offers unparalleled river cruise experiences with 26 custom-designed ships sailing Europe’s Danube, Douro, Rhine, Moselle, Main, Rhône, Saône, Seine, Garonne and Dordogne Rivers, and Dutch and Belgian Waterways; Southeast Asia’s Mekong River; Africa’s Chobe River; Egypt’s Nile River and Colombia’s Magdalena River (2024). Co-founded by pioneering river cruise executives Rudi Schreiner, Kristin Karst and Jimmy Murphy, the company is renowned for its warm and welcoming crew; innovative and sustainable ship design; a wide choice of included small group shore excursions featuring biking and hiking options; and award-winning, locally sourced cuisine paired with complimentary fine wine. Modern, spacious and tastefully decorated, most AmaWaterways ships welcome an average of just 150 guests and feature onboard amenities such as a stunning Main Lounge, The Chef’s Table specialty restaurant and heated outdoor swimming pool with swim-up bar. AmaWaterways leads the river cruise industry in innovation, highlighted by the launch of the revolutionary AmaMagna, and the introduction of the history-making Seven River Journey itineraries. The company also offers a variety of themed sailings geared towards active travelers and families, as well as group and charter opportunities.
With the highest-rated ships in Europe according to Insight Guide: River Cruising in Europe & the USA, AmaWaterways has received countless honors and accolades including the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) 2022 “River Cruise Line Partner of the Year” (seven years running). In addition, 20 ships in AmaWaterways’ European fleet have received the prestigious Green Award certification for industry-leading safety, quality and environmental performance.
For more information, visit https://www.amawaterways.com
ABOUT JERNE
Jerne is the world’s leading platform connecting thousands of influential travel creators and experience providers – hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, restaurants, spas, and every experiential product in between – forming a new channel for travel distribution. Notably, Jerne is the Official Creator Economy Partner of Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on luxury hospitality. Jerne was co-founded in 2021 by Tim Morgan and Ryan McElroy who have a combined 35 years of travel industry experience, both having worked with or served on advisory boards of some of the world’s leading travel companies. Formerly overseeing Canada & EMEA for Virtuoso, Morgan also co-founded The 1000, a $3 billion club for the world’s most influential travel advisors. McElroy also co-founded Travel Agency Tribes, a provider of B2B2C travel marketing technologies used by thousands of travel companies and consumers every day.
For more information, visit https://www.jerne.com