IMAGES: GETTY
report | escorted tours
From left: Central Park, New York; The Louvre, Paris
"I see a lot more semi-escorted vacations.
Everything is the same as a normal escorted tour, but there’s more free time at each destination. Tis is good for those people who want to make sure they see all of the notable attractions, but would also like the free time to go back to their favorites at a much less hectic pace." Looking at the bigger picture, Jim Buckley,
Island Travel, Hilton Head Island, S.C., believes tours need to go through a period of evolution just as the cruise industry has. He says the finest example of this is Tauck Tours, which has created niche
products (multi-generational/special
events/small groups vs standard size) with more options, enabling it to appeal to a much larger overall demographic. “Tauck is merging the inclusive elements of
an escorted tour — air, hotels, transportation, transfers and some meals — with independent travel in its Tauck Bridges family trips and Yellow Roads of Europe packages,” Buckley says. For example,
the eight-day Tauck Bridges
Italia Bella: Rome to Venice tour includes active components such as hiking, biking and walking, with small group departures limited to 24 guests. Tauck also has special events tours, such as the Rose Bowl and Kentucky Derby, and an inclusive tour of Chicago in 2016 with sightseeing based on filmmaker Ken Burns' documentaries. "Te point is variety that meets the needs
of different demographics," Buckley says. "Te benefit of touring this way is travel professionals are able to tailor itineraries to meet clients’ needs, rather than them join a group of 40 or 50 on the same motorcoach, going to the same place at the same time with no flexibility."
48 | ASTAnetwork | fall 2015
Also seeing a shift towards both a guided and
leisure aspect to tour products, Collette Tours introduced the Collette Spotlight line this year. Jaclyn Leibl-Cote, vice president of product,
says the new line features single hotel stays in iconic destinations along with a tour manager. Sample destinations include New York City, San Antonio and London. At Abercrombie & Kent, passengers on its
Connections European River Cruise program also get the inclusive/independent touch. “Te A&K tour director travels with guests
from beginning to end aboard a 150-passenger Amadeus ship, leads walking tours and private shore excursions, and offers guests guidance for getting the most out of time spent exploring on their own,” according to media relations manager Jean Fawcett. Sightseeing is limited to just 24 guests with
private A&K vehicles and expert local guides. Te firm also has a program called Onshore
Connections, which includes visiting unique markets and neighborhoods and meeting local artisans, musicians and culinary experts. Baby Boomers are still the ‘sweet spot’ at
Mayflower Tours, but John Stachnik, president and co-owner, says it’s finding that the more exotic the program, the younger the traveler is likely to be, if the demographics of the firm's river cruise packages in India and its Amazon adventure are anything to go by. And as far as destinations go, the classics are
coming back strongly, according to Stachnik, noting that next year will be the centennial of the National Park Service, which is guaranteed to spur "lots of interest". n
CASESTUDY
WOODLAKE TRAVEL As Linda de Sosa of Woodlake Travel in Houston, Texas, tells it, two couples in their 60s traveling together visited her agency on a recent Friday morning. It was their first trip to Europe and they
wanted to go to London, Paris and Normandy in May 2016. De Sosa told them how they could do a combination escorted/independent tour that covered their wish list for the 14 days they had scheduled. She suggested starting in London, since
they could speak the language and it offered a variety of cultural activities and experiences. She told them she could set up an introductory private guide and then work with them on a combination “hop-on/hop-off” motorcoach tour, as well as a day tour out to the countryside to see Stonehenge and Windsor. For Paris and Normandy, de Sosa
suggested the couple take the Eurostar over and hook up with Globus’ Normandy, Brittany and Chateaux country tour. De Sosa extended the itinerary one day and secured a private guide for the Louvre. De Sosa used the online interactive itinerary
management platform Unmapped and had “The Anders and Fords Go to Europe” ready and published by the afternoon of the clients’ agency visit.
woodlaketravel.com
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