Riviera Travel chief aims to double river cruise fleet in five years

Riviera Travel CEO Matt Luscombe says the company wants to “double” its river cruise fleet over the next five years, even as record low water levels disrupted operations on the Rhine and the Danube this summer. The operator currently runs 13 ships in Europe and has three additional river vessels on order: two for delivery in 2027 and 2028 for European itineraries, plus one arriving in 2027 for the Mekong. Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, Luscombe linked the growth to strong demand and said investments will focus on newer, state-of-the-art ships to reduce average fleet age to under five years.