Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, the Australian company that operates the Scenic and Emerald Waterways brands, last month announced it was taking on full management of its European river fleet.
That should spell good news for travelers, enabling the company to better manage consistency in everything from food quality to service and passenger experiences.
In announcing the Emerald move, Scenic Group COO Rob Voss called the decision a "necessity for absolute product consistency and delivery across the entire fleet."
And as Ann Chamberlin, the company's new vice president of sales for the U.S. said, it also signals "stability and investment" by the company in developing its global brand. It also shows that "that we can afford to do that."
Indeed, while the company has been around for more than 30 years, it is still a lesser-known new kid on the block in North America, having only opened offices here five years ago. Having spent the past year highly focused on its new ocean-going luxury small ship, the Scenic Eclipse, this also underscores their continued commitment to its river product.
The company in September announced it was bringing management of its 12-ship Scenic fleet in Europe in-house. And just recently it said it would also take over management of all of its Emerald ships on the continent, five of which were being managed by G&P Cruise Hotel Management.
With the management changes, Chamberlin said the company will go from managing eight to 19 ships next year. She says a special team has been mobilized to make the transition.
While the company press releases stressed the importance of consistency and elevated service standards the move will bring, Chamberlin said it is also important in recruiting and helping the company build a strong and loyal employee base.
"We feel by doing this, it will help us attract better talent," she said. "We will invest in our own training, [and] help them develop a career path. We will be able to advance our crew and officers across our different product lineups."
Retaining talent has become a top priority in the fast-growing river cruise industry. After all, we all know that happy employees are key to ensuring happy guests.