Europe 2006:

All Signs Point to a Banner Year

By Carol Eannarino

Now is the time for home based agents to sell Europe 2006 — if you haven’t done so, already. All signs point to a great season. In fact, U.S. travel to Europe is expected to record its second-highest level ever during 2005, surpassed only by 2000, according to the current edition of the Trans-Atlantic newsletter.
Also in an informal survey of USTOA members, 85% of the respondents said sales of tours and packages to Western Europe were up, with 50% stating that growth was more than 10%. Another 10% said sales were down, but by less than 10%. For Eastern Europe, 80% said sales were up and the remaining 20% noted that sales were even.
The newsletter noted that several U.S. carriers plan to increase European flights and capacity next spring.
As a recent Wall St. Journal article titled “Travelers Flock to Europe as Dollar Gets Stronger,” pointed out, European vacations are getting cheaper than they have been in years.
“With the dollar gaining 14.6% on the euro and 12.1% on the British pound over the past 12 months, large numbers of U.S. tourists are already booking vacations to Europe for the coming year,” the article reported.
In other words, everything from dining to hotels to souvenir shopping should be cheaper for U.S. tourists — and that is driving business to travel agents’ and tour operators’ doors.
“2006 is looking strong for travel to Europe, with Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence and Amsterdam topping the list of those destinations we are seeing the most demand for,” said Amy Mills, senior marketing manager, Europe/U.S. East, GoGo Worldwide Vacations.
“Italy is likely to be a huge seller in 2006 for both FIT travel and pre/post cruise stays in Rome and Venice,” she added.
Steve Perillo, president of Perillo Tours, noted, “We’re finding a lot of demand for Tuscany — thus, our new Romantic Tuscany Tour. People are really passionate about Tuscany and continue to be fascinated with its romantic allure.”
He said that the Romantic Tuscany tour is a first class and fully escorted 12-day tour which begins in Rome for two nights and visits Orvieto, Todi, Torgiano, Siena, San Gimignano, Viareggio, Pisa, Lucca and Cinque Terre, with visits to the Lugano and Como lakes, and Milan.
Perillo also encouraged home based agents to visit www.perilloperks.com for information on Perillo’s incentive plan for agents.
“It’s really good for home based agents because not only does the host agency get an incentive, but so do the agents themselves — every time they book a Perillo tour,” he said.

John Severini, president of Trafalgar Tours, said that Europe bookings are up for a couple of reasons.
“First, from our winter brochure (issued this past July) to and including our new 2006 summer tours released over a month ago, demand is up significantly over 2005.”
Severini credited “our value pricing, increased guaranteed departures and variety of destinations.”
He also cited Trafalgar’s new “square” format brochures.
“Agents and consumers love them. It has an incredibly dramatic format and is creating equally strong demand from consumers,” he said. “Its coffee table book look and feel has consumers grabbing these from agents — resulting in bookings for agents.”
He said that popular destinations are Italy, Britain, Ireland, Scotland and France and River Cruises.
“Our Web site is a favorite for home based agents,” he added. “They can book online and we have a great E-learning ‘at home’ study program for this valued part of our agency distribution area.”
Europe cruises are also sizzling hot, according to a number of lines.
“Carnival’s inaugural Mediterranean program aboard the 110,000-ton Carnival Liberty this summer was an unqualified success,” said Vicki Freed, Carnival’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Guests were impressed with the wide variety of historic and charming cities featured on these 12-day cruises, as well as the many onboard features and elegant décor of this spectacular ‘Fun Ship.’ In fact, response to this program was so strong that we are deploying Carnival Liberty to Europe in 2006 to operate a series of 15 Mediterranean cruises — nearly double what we offered in 2005.”