2006 Travel Planner From EuroGroups Now Available; Customized Tour Business Doubled in One Year.
White Plains, NY, December 2, 2005 – Whether traveling for cultural, educational, adventure, sports or religious purposes, more and more people travel with people they know. EuroGroups, the group travel division of Rail Europe Group, saw a doubling of its customized tour business this past year and has just released its new 12-page 4-color “Essence of Group Travel™” planner, downloadable at www.eurogroups.com.
The 2006 planner covers economical 3-night city break packages, train and hotel packages, rail tickets, transatlantic air, theme-oriented escorted tours, pre- and post-cruise excursions and fully customized tours throughout Europe and the U.K..
“The strongest growth in the past year has been in our tour business, which has doubled,” says Andreas Niederhauser, Director of EuroGroups. “We do more business overall in group travel to Europe than any other tour operator. I think the quality of our services in Europe is the key to our success, along with a concentrated effort over the past year to build more tour business.
“Overall, we expect to hit $27 million in revenues by the end of this year. Rail travel as a component is also growing – especially among groups of students, who are interested in experiencing the efficiency of the European rail system. But we also sell rail to groups of all ages and coming to Europe for a variety of purposes.
“We sell transatlantic air together with other elements such as tours or packages. This past year, we added several more carriers to the number we have negotiated contracts with and our air bookings are also up,” notes Niederhauser.
Special services just for groups
In addition to tours, rail and coach travel, transatlantic air, EuroGroups can arrange baggage handling, transfers, meals, special events such as wine-tasting or concerts, entrance to museums/monuments, licensed local guides and other services. A new soccer team tour has just been introduced, specially designed for American teams who want the challenge of playing European local teams, as well as training camp and tickets for a professional match [see press release issued November 17, 2005].
The 2006 brochure provides useful tips and points that group planners should consider in order to make their trip a success, such as how many activities need to be pre-planned vs. allowing group members free time in each destination or each day. The brochure also offers some ideas for add-ons in many destinations, such as a cooking class in Barcelona, chocolate and cheese tour in Switzerland on board the Chocolate Train, visiting a family farm for an olive oil tasting in Tuscany and many more.
Sample tours and city break packages
While every tour arranged by EuroGroups is customized to suit specific budgets and needs, here are a few examples of basic popular packages:
- City Break Packages – these economical packages include roundtrip airfare, 3 nights in a centrally located first-class hotel, daily breakfast, hotel taxes and service charges, plus one tour leader goes free for 20 paid passengers. Choose from 24 cities, such as Barcelona ($510 per person), Berlin ($488), Paris ($508), Rome ($529), Warsaw ($537), Athens ($566).
- London & Paris on Eurostar – travel by high-speed Eurostar train (2 hrs, 35 min) and spend 3 nights in each city (3-star hotels). Includes roundtrip trans-Atlantic air, breakfasts, English-speaking tour guide, transfers, entrance to sites, porterage, hotel taxes and service charges. Starts at $749 per person.
- Central European Tour – 8 nights in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia for just $889 per person including same components as London & Paris except here touring is by deluxe motorcoach.
- Spain & Portugal – 7 nights beginning in Madrid, ending in Lisbon starting at $1,014 per person.
For more information, to download a 2006 EuroGroups planner or to request a quote for group travel (10 or more), log on to www.eurogroups.com or call 1-800-462-2577.
Note:
*Quoted prices are for airfare from New York – many other gateways available. Prices are based on low-season travel and do not include air taxes and security charges.
Photos: members of the press may download high-res photos of Eurostar and other European trains at www.raileurope.com/presspix
