We asked the members of AgentNation, the only social networking site dedicated exclusively to all travel agents, who their favorite tour operators in Europe were.
Michael wrote:
“I've been very impressed with Trafalgar Tours. They provide an excellent service, with the tour conductor separate from the coach driver, and adding local guides when possible, for the most local expertise. They have a variety of price levels, so you can get people the luxury experience when they can afford that, or go for the budget option for those who want it. Their package prices are cheaper than I can do it ala carte, even with all the expertise they provide. And they have excellent multimedia support and informational training. They're not quite perfect, in that they don't offer B&B options, which are my stock in trade, but I may be in the minority in wanting something like that. Plus I realize that B&Bs are just not practical for the size of groups they usually do. CIE seems to have some good offerings too, though I don't find them as agent-friendly as Trafalgar.”
Luv2tvl, however, pointed out that choosing the right tour operator depends on the destination: “I use Globus/Cosmos/Monograms a lot for the Escorted Europe in general. Had great luck with the Italy itineraries, Great Britain, Spain/Portugal. For Ireland I usually do CIE or Celtic. They offer good fly/drives and have some cool escorted tours as well as golf tours. I use Travel Impressions for ‘on-your-own’ London, Paris, Italy. People who want to explore specific cities on their own. If you need a good FIT company to put together ‘on-your-own’ multi-cities, I've had great luck with Trading Places Intl. They do all the work of piecing it together for you. I love General Tours as well. Their departures are guaranteed if your clients are the only 2 signed up. I had a semi-handicapped person do an Egypt trip and there were 6 people on the trip and the guide was very good at not rushing ahead and leaving him behind…For car rentals in Europe, you can’t beat AutoEurope. They look at many car companies and give you the best rate…For Adventure travel I use Mountain Travel Sobek.”
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