Europe Express reports several trends taking place in custom group travel for the 2014 season, including a dramatic increase in pre and post-cruise itineraries. This includes both traditional sea cruises and most notably - with river cruise itineraries.
“This year we have had an absolute outpouring of agents requesting group pre-cruise itineraries and post-cruise extension programs for river cruises,” said Paula McKay, president of Europe Express. “In addition to having one or two nights in the start/end city, we’re seeing a clear increase in groups who want to continue traveling beyond the port cities - with multi-night extension itineraries.”
- Amsterdam: 2-4 night extensions to Brussels and/or Paris
- Paris: 3-4 night extensions with a combination of sightseeing in Paris and day trips
- Basel: 3-4 night extension in Switzerland, 4-5 night extension: Switzerland plus the Italian Lake District (departing from Milan)
- Budapest: 4-night extension to Slovakia, 5-night extension to Zagreb plus Ljubljana, or 7-night extension to Zagreb and Ljubljana and Venice
- Nuremberg: 3-4 night extension to either Prague or Berlin
- Porto: 3-4 night extension to Madrid
Europe Express says its top five destinations for custom group itineraries are England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Other custom group trends include an increase in WWII-themed tours to Normandy, as 2014 is the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
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The company also reports a rise in the number of heritage groups wishing to research their ancestries, particularly in the following countries: Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Wales and Italy.
In terms of demographics, Europe Express says it has seen a distinct increase in requests for multi-generational groups and itineraries for children.
Europe Express says a1l of its groups have custom itineraries, work directly with agents to create travel itineraries for groups.
Visit www.europeexpress.com