New associate member: Cruise Tours Benelux

Cruise Tours Benelux was set up as a private company in early 2019. With 10 office staff and 15 on the ground, it operates mostly in The Netherlands and Belgium, handling about 30 ocean calls and hundreds of river calls annually.

Owner and managing director Claudia Luisini has a background in ocean cruise, having previously worked for a global destination management company, where she dealt with many of the cruiselines.

The company offers all the usual services, from pre and post extensions to transfers and turnaround support to shore excursions.

Luisini says: “We joined Cruise Europe to give us more visibility in the ocean cruise industry. We are keen to expand this segment of our business, having already been successful with river cruise ships.”

One of the challenges CTB is facing in The Netherlands is that of mass tourism on the one hand and a shortage of services on the other. Luisini says CTB is addressing the problem, together with its clients and sub vendors, by looking for the best ways to optimise the services, for example through offering multiple excursion start times and putting on two walking tours instead of one during a half day call.