AmaWaterways, announced its category-first entry into the creator economy by partnering with Jerne, the world’s leading platform connecting influential travel creators and experience providers.
Complementing and supporting the strong relationships that AmaWaterways has with the travel advisor community, approved creators now have access to apply for, experience, create content for, and promote AmaWaterways river cruises to new audiences around the world.
“Since starting the company in 2002, innovation has always been a driving force in every aspect of our business – from our ship design, creation of itineraries and onboard experiences to our approach to marketing and sales,” said Kristin Karst, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, AmaWaterways. “We are excited to be part of this new collaboration with Jerne ensuring the joys of river cruising are shared with more travellers searching for a personalized vacation experience.”
According to a recent study by Adobe, the creator economy is a multi billion-dollar industry with hundreds of millions of people producing and promoting all types of content for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, blogs, and other platforms, providing an additional avenue for the company’s sales and marketing activities.
“This efficient and innovative platform provides AmaWaterways with an opportunity to work with a broad range of talented content creators and influencers who provide an incredible amount of additional targeted marketing reach – essentially building awareness and providing inspiration to encourage an entirely new group of travellers to discover river cruising,” said Janet Bava, Chief Marketing Officer, AmaWaterways.
Consumer confidence in the quality of a recommendation is key in convincing travellers to try a product that is new to them and, according to Nielsen, 71% of consumers trust advertising opinions and product placement from content creators. Luxury is also top of mind for those looking to the creator economy for inspiration. A recent study by Stelico Consulting Group found that 76% of luxury travellers selected their hotel brand, cruise line or airline based on social media, while 60% said they had previously purchased travel based on a social media post by a celebrity or influencer.
“Whether created by influencers, bloggers, or others, user generated content is an increasingly important and economical channel for influencing the buying decisions of travellers,” said Tim Morgan, CEO, Jerne. “Recognised as a innovator within the river cruise sector, AmaWaterways embraced this new platform and became the first to embed a creator economy strategy into its overall corporate vision.”
In addition to providing creators access to partnership opportunities, Jerne’s proprietary platform gives AmaWaterways an end-to-end solution for controlling all aspects of the relationship – from verifying creator credentials to establishing specific deliverables to the legalities of distribution to the content management itself and important ROI reporting.
Jerne is notably the Official Creator Economy Partner of Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on luxury hospitality, and provides its platform to thousands of hotel, villa, restaurant, spa, tour, and cruise operators around the world.
Creators interested in working with AmaWaterways can begin the process at https://www.jerne.com/amawater
