We now know that 2016 was a challenging year for selling travel to Europe, and that goes for river cruising too, which had been booming up until the end of last year.
But terror attacks in Paris and Brussels that were carried out during the peak booking season put a dent in 2016 sales, which was further deepened by water-level issues at the start of summer.
After a sluggish year, however, now it appears there is hope on the horizon for a much-improved 2017.
"Over the past month, we've seen a dramatic spike in bookings," said Steve Born, senior vice president of marketing for the Globus family of brands, referring to the company's river cruise line, Avalon Waterways. "We're now up 4% year-over-year on Avalon for 2017 travel, and that's both for all of our destinations worldwide and for Europe specifically.
"So after a softer start to the season, it definitely appears we have changed the sales momentum."
AmaWaterways reported that September was its strongest month in its 14-year history for future cruise bookings, indicating that the river cruise market might be back in its strong growth stride for 2017.
For those who put off river cruising in 2016 due to terror threats or weather woes, the early indicators for 2017 may be a result of some pent-up demand for the travel style. For others, perhaps several months without incident have been enough to calm their nerves and reinstall confidence in booking a European river sailing. But it remains to be seen how robust the recovery will be.