Shearings scoops award for river cruise

Shearings has strengthened its position as a leading river cruise operator by winning a top travel industry award.

The holiday operator has been named the number one provider of river cruises by the travel agent readers of Travel Bulletin, one of the UK's leading travel trade publications.

The award comes after Shearings launched its expanded 2010 brochures and marks the company’s move towards becoming the leading provider of escorted tours in Europe.

Caroline Brown, commercial director for Shearings, said: ”Launching our first ever river cruise brochure a year ago was a major step forward and we now charter three of our own ships, operating mainly on the Rhine, Danube and Moselle.

“With a sales growth of 18% year on year, we’ve been able to expand our offering this year with the addition of nine new cruises including China and Egypt for the first time, meaning we are now offering our biggest ever selection of cruises.

“We’ve just launched our second dedicated brochure for 2010 and winning this award ahead of other recognised river cruise providers shows that we are successfully establishing ourselves as a major player in the river cruise sector. We’d like to thank the agents who supported us and helped us achieve this success.”

The Travel Bulletin Star Awards 2009 are recognised as a celebration of travel excellence and are independently voted for by travel agents.