Coach travel brings with it group benefits.Credit: Dallas Kilponen
Embarking on a multi-stop coach tour around Europe has been something of a rite of passage for many Australian travellers. But in recent years, the humble coach trip has faced new battles on both the business and image fronts.
The surge in popularity of European river cruising has taken much of the touring limelight. The rise of the internet-educated traveller has also led to many adventurers eschewing group tours and stepping out on their own.
Added to this is the image that coach tours only offer frenetically paced itineraries, with passengers reduced to exclaiming the famous cry: "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium."
So it's something of a revelation that business is better than ever in the coach-touring market. In fact, most big companies have reported more than 20 per cent growth, year on year, in the number of Australian travellers taking European coach tours.
Globus has reported increases of 27 per cent and Cosmos has shown a 20 per cent increase. Both Topdeck and Trafalgar tours have reported an increase of more than 20 per cent in the number of travellers.
In the case of North America, Globus has seen a spike of 21 per cent and, in the fast-growing South American market, it is up by 85 per cent.
APT, which has tours combining coach travel with rail trips and cruises, reports its Canada and Alaska packages have seen 20 per cent growth in recent years and significant passenger increases every year since 2000.
APT general manager Chris Hall says: "This kind of growth across the entire market is impressive and 2009 is already tracking well. While the current economic situation is having an impact, it is still going to be a strong year ahead for group touring."
Marketing manager at Globus, Christian Schweitzer, says the past 12 months have been the best in nine years but he is cautious about market predictions.
"It has been a record period for us but to expect us to have another record year in light of the current climate is too optimistic," he says. "But I think we will still do well as we have our strengths and a lot of people are booking for new tours."
As for the reasons behind the upswing in travellers choosing to go on the road to see Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and Brandenburg Gate from the packaged comfort of a coach tour, value for money and repeat customers are playing a large role.
Trafalgar Tours' Paul McGrath says it is 40 per cent cheaper to see Europe by coach tour than by travelling independently.
"Once you add up all the travelling, accommodation, transfers, admissions and meals, it is 40 per cent cheaper than if you had done the same trip on your own," he says. "That value for money message is what we are focusing on and while we save this money for the passenger, we are taking the hassle out of travel at the same time."
Tour companies hedge the costs of bulk trips well in advance, so the fares presented in the brochures are usually fixed for a 12-month period - no matter what the fluctuations in the currency rates.
"The thing about a coach tour is once you have paid for it, the consumer does not have to pay for anything else if they don't want to," Schweitzer says. "They know in advance what the holiday will cost."
Hall says one of the biggest benefits of this kind of travel is it takes the stress out of a holiday. "We become a one-stop shop, as you just tick the one you want and we take the uncertainty out of the experience," he says.
However Hall claims the 40 per cent savings for group travel compared with independent travel is no longer accurate. He is certain, with the change in the economy, there is now a bigger saving.
"With the devaluation of the dollar, it is now more of a saving for passengers - maybe as much as 50 per cent - as we haven't changed any of our pricing to reflect any changes in currency," he says.
"So while you might have been saving 40 per cent in booking a tour months ago, you now must take into account that we have not changed prices since, even though there has been a currency change. That is why 2009 is a bargain year to travel as everything is included in the group packages but the prices have not gone up."
Tapping into the past has led to a successful future for some coach companies. Lance Batty of Connections, the Australian marketer for Topdeck Travel, has used the experiences of previous customers to promote coach touring on sites such as MySpace and YouTube.
"This ... growth we have seen in recent years has built up a tidal wave of past passengers who have returned happy and that is our strongest form of marketing," Batty says.
"As a marketer, there is no better sales assistance than a happy past customer."
According to McGrath, more than 50 per cent of Trafalgar's business in recent years has been return customers.
"We have catered for some passengers three or four times and then they are back again," he says. "Many times a customer will take a multi-region discovery tour and then take a more focused tour to one specific place they really like. This is driving a lot of business within the escorted touring market."
Adapting to the tastes of travellers and diversifying the product to suit the market have also played a role in changing the image of coach travel.
Most companies now have a range of trips, from whistlestop tours in which the length of Europe is explored in one go to the "free-and-easy" itineraries, where hotels and transport are provided, leaving plenty of free time for travellers to branch out on their own and do their own thing.
Schweitzer says: "The perceptions towards coach travel in the past was very stereotyped but things have changed and that is why people are taking up our tours in these kinds of numbers.
"The real thing it comes down to for most people is the value of the itinerary."
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