Uniworld appoints Alice Ager as MD for Australia and NZ

Uniworld CEO Ellen Bettridge, who is in Sydney this week for Cruise360, took time from her busy schedule on Tuesday to host a trade breakfast and reveal a few key updates.

During an exclusive breakfast at Hyde Hacienda, Bettridge announced the promotion of Alice Ager to managing director of Uniworld in Australia and New Zealand.

Bettridge said Australia was Uniworld’s second largest source market and revealed that if early bookings are anything to go by, 2023 will be another massive year.

“In Australia alone, 2023 bookings are 38 per cent higher than 2019 and outpacing all other regions,” she said.

“This result has been achieved through the hard work, resilience, and creativity of the team under the fantastic leadership of Alice Ager.”

After four and a half years with the Travel Corporation, Ager has moved up from her position of general manager and comes with global experience in selling luxury travel brands such as Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Uniworld.

“This is a wonderful acknowledgement, and I am delighted to be leading our team through this critical rebuild period,” Ager said.

“Thank you to Ellen and the TTC leadership under Brett Tollman, for giving me this amazing opportunity. I am excited to see this region reach its full potential with our trade partnerships after what we’ve all been through.”

Bettridge also took the opportunity to reveal what’s new for 2023 and give a taste of the boutique river cruise company’s 2024 collection.

The 2023/24 collection features three new Rhine itineraries in Europe, an extended Mekong river cruise, new cruise extension offerings, plus an exciting new cruise and rail pairing in India.

“We’re rolling out fresh new offerings and expanding our portfolio with experiences that we’re confident both new and loyal guests will enjoy,” Bettridge said.

“With 2023 bookings from Australia and NZ up by 38 per cent on 2019, it is clear that travellers from this market are going big, booking longer itineraries and higher cabin categories.

“41 per cent of the bookings on our version of a world cruise, the 46-night Rivers of the World 2023 travelling from Cairo to Lisbon, are from Australia and NZ which is fantastic!

The demand for longer itineraries has always been strong from this market, largely because when people are looking at luxury river cruises, they know they need to invest a solid amount of time to fully immerse themselves in the experience, while also allowing for travel time between Australia and Europe.”

Featured image: Ellen Bettridge and Alice Ager

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Alice Ager Ellen Bettridge river cruise ttc uniworld