Australians have a taste for river cruising and they’re not getting full.

This year, Western Australia will host the state’s first dedicated river cruise expo.

Organised by CLIA Award winning agency, Bicton Travel, the River Cruise Expo will be held on 8 March 2014 and will feature exclusive Expo deals, cruise presentations and prizes.

Bicton Travel sales and promotions manager Barry Downs said demand for river cruising continues to grow, with more Australians booking than ever before.

And he’s right. According to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) statistics, the number of Australians that took a river cruise in 2012 was 39,275. That’s 12 percent more than 2011’s 34,913.

“The demand for river cruise is crazy, it’s just mental,” he said.

“We get a lot of people coming in and are completely shocked when they find out they can’t get a river this year or it’s extremely difficult to get a river cruise this year because they’re so full.”

He said hosting the River Cruise Expo will encourage interested travellers to get in early.

“We’ll still be promoting river cruising this year, but we want to encourage people to consider it as early as possible so they can get on the itineraries they want and in the cabins they want,” he added.

The Expo will be held at Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood from 10am to 4pm.

Seventeen river cruise brands will be represented including American Steamboat Company, Aqua Expeditions, APT, Avalon Waterways, Cruiseco Adventurer, Cruiseco Explorer, Cruise & Maritime River Cruises, Evergreen Tours, Le Boat, Luftner River Cruises, Noble Caledonia, Riviera Travel River Cruises, Scenic Tours, Tauck River Cruises, Tempo Holidays, Travelmarvel, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises and Viking Cruises.

Entry is free. Registration for cruise presentation will open from February.

For more information see bictontravel.com.au.