Riviera Travel celebrates first ever ‘The Riv Awards’ with 17 winners

Hosted by Dean Wilson, the first ever awards ceremony held by the renowned cruise and tour operator honoured its top-performing sales agents and stand-out collaborators across three categories.

Riviera Travel has announced 17 winners in its first ever “The Riv Awards” ceremony to honour the shining lights in the travel trade industry.

Following the announcement of the event earlier this year, “The Riv Awards 2025” took place at The Lookout in central London on Thursday, April 10th, with nominees being shortlisted across three key categories: Regional, National and Special Recognition Awards.

A multi-award-winning company in its own right, Riviera Travel launched this new trade initiative to thank its many dedicated travel trade partners – such as sales agents, offices and collaborators – for their contribution and sales of River Cruise and Touring holidays.

Hosted by award-winning TV presenter and journalist Dean Wilson, guests were greeted with welcome drinks before sitting down for a three-course lunch high up on the 50th floor with sweeping views across the city.

Following an introductory speech by Riviera Travel Chief Commercial Officer, Robin Shaw, during which he thanked trade partners “who contributed significantly to our stunning performance this year, which was up 47% year-on-year from 2023 to 2024”, host Dean Wilson and Vicky Billing led attendees through the awards.

Dean says, “It was an absolute honour to host the very first Riviera Travel awards in London, an event that truly showcased the incredible passion and dedication of their travel agent partners. Having recently experienced the Riviera product on their trade VIP cruise from Budapest to Vienna, I saw first hand the elegance, service and attention to detail that sets them apart. What struck me the most, both onboard and at the awards, is the unique and genuine relationship that Riviera Travel has with their travel agents.”

Winners in the Regional and National Award categories were chosen based on year-on-year revenue growth and sales volume, while the Special Recognition Awards were chosen by evaluating brand engagement and marketing initiatives as well as delivering strong volume and YOY growth.

Vicky Billing, Head of Trade & Partnerships UK & Ireland, says, “I’m absolutely thrilled to say that the very first Riviera Travel Trade Awards – or The Riv Awards – were a huge success! It was a truly special event dedicated to recognising the incredible contribution of our trade partners.

“Personally, if I could give every single person in the trade an award, I would. The support and growth we’ve seen – across both river cruising and touring – has been nothing short of phenomenal, but it’s the people behind it all who make the real difference.

“We can’t thank our trade partners enough for all their support, we could not do what we do without them and I’m already looking forward to next year’s awards – and I’ve no doubt they’ll be even bigger and better!”

AWARDS AND WINNERS
Regional Stores

Northern Ireland – Oasis Travel, Lisburn

Scotland – Barrhead Travel, Edinburgh The Gyle

North East & Cumbria – Gates Travel, Kendal

Yorkshire and the Humber – Andrew Earle Travel, Brough

North West – Henbury Travel

Midlands – Regents Travel

South East – AG River Cruises

South West – Cartwright Travel

East of England – Premier Travel St Ives

HW Individual – Joanne Saunders, Mid Counties PTA

National Accounts

Best Up & Coming Trade Partner – CRUI.SE

Top overall account Retail – Hays Travel

Top overall account OTA – Rivercruising.co.uk
Top overall account HW – Travel Counsellors

Other

Top Overall Engagement / Marketing Account – Miles Morgan Travel / Fred Olsen Travel (two separate awards)

Riviera Ambassador – Christina Astill

QUOTES FROM WINNERS

Special Recognition Awards, Riviera Ambassador: Christina Astill, ‘Godmother’ of MS Emily Brontë

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to receive this award. Becoming the ambassador of the MS Emily Brontë ship was the highlight of my career up until now – and now this is the second I have always loved and respected Riviera Travel so this is just amazing. I’m never after selling just that one booking; when a customer comes to me for the first time I want to build a lifelong relationship – and I can always trust Riviera Travel to give a really good experience to my clients.”

Regional Awards, Top Store in the South East: Alistair Gill, AG River Cruises

“I’ve been in the business for a long time and I really value the Riviera Travel brand. I think it’s important to get to know the people you are working with, and they are still, in my eyes, a great family business that hasn’t changed. They have a fantastic team and do a superb job in supporting the agency network and I’m very proud to be working with them.”

Regional Awards, Top Homebased Agent: Joanne Saunders, Mid Counties PTA

“I’ve worked with Riviera Travel for numerous years now and I’ve always loved the product – and it is what my customers like. I’ve got a really big Facebook following and I’m always putting Riviera Travel offers on there, encouraging people to try it – so this award is going to be massive news!”

National Awards, Top Overall Account Retail, Kelly Green on behalf of Hays Travel

I’m absolutely delighted. Whenever you win an award, it’s all about the people and we couldn’t have done it without all of us at Hays Travel, our members, and distribution channels. River cruises have been a huge focus for our business in 2023 and 2024 – and ,of course, going forward – and we couldn’t do it without the partnership with Riviera Travel.“

For further information visit www.rivieratravel.co.uk.