Now, I am in no way claiming to be an Einstein – I only just scraped through my Domestic Science exam – but I was moved to let out a whoop of joy when the Clia 2016 cruise statistics were released earlier in the month.

The cruise sector showed significant growth, but more importantly, river cruising specifically saw double-digit growth, with a rise of 11%. What a fabulous result!

Its popularity will only continue, as one of the barriers to booking has been that customers and agents often don’t know anyone who has experienced a river cruise and, without a personal recommendation, they haven’t had the confidence to take the plunge.

Thankfully, with growing numbers taking to the rivers, this is changing. Word-of-mouth will increasingly attract the new-to-river-cruise market and, in addition, the high satisfaction levels that guests experience on a river cruise will drive repeat business.

The recent Channel 5 programme Cruising with Jane McDonald, which featured our very own Maria Theresa in one episode, was a fantastic showcase – not just for the Uniworld brand but also for river cruise in general.

On the programme Jane herself admitted she would never have considered river cruising before, but was subsequently a total convert and, judging by the response that the programme generated, it introduced river cruising to a whole new audience.

We were able to advise our trade partners of the show’s transmission date and provide tools to support marketing initiatives in advance. It was great to see so many agents capitalise on the opportunity.

The show also demonstrated that as an industry we need to come together to paint a better picture of just what a great experience a river cruise offers.

All too often our messages focus on price or added benefits rather than the actual experience itself. River cruise ships are floating hotels taking customers to remote locations or to the very heart of cities.

It is not just about enjoying the sights of a destination, it’s also about having the opportunity to partake in experiences.

Awareness and recommendation can also be increased through social media and by encouraging customers to post their experiences on sites such as Facebook and Instagram.

We all want to stay connected with family and friends while we are on holiday and we all like to share pictures of what a great time we are having (if only to annoy those left back at home). And that will aid that growth – and stats – further.

The reach of social media is mindblowing: if you post a picture on Facebook the average reach through friends of friends is over 31,000 – we’re back to those statistics again.

However, it’s certainly worth taking into consideration when you can reap the benefits and convert the buzz around river cruising into bookings and commissions.

Kathryn Beadle is managing director UK of Uniworld