Siena (courtesy: Pixabay).
While Italy remains on top, Eurobound is seeing Spain, Portugal and Greece trending for the affluent traveler.
Eurobound, specialists in bespoke travel to Europe, reports that Italy is the most-requested destination for their independent, luxury travelers to Europe. According to Jeff Roy, Eurobond’s Vice President, Sales & Marketing, year-over-year sales to Italy have spiked 25%, echoing the findings of a recent Virtuoso report citing Italy as the top global destination. While Italy remains on top, Eurobound is seeing Spain, Portugal and Greece trending for the affluent traveler.
Eurobound also reports that sales for 2019 continue to show steady growth, with a year-over-year increase of +10%, and deposits for 2020 up over last year.
Multigenerational and Multi-destination Travel Strong
Client demand for multigenerational and multi-destination travel continues strong for Eurobound, says Roy, who notes that small, bespoke companies are well-positioned to handle the intensive hands-on planning for individual itineraries. “Coordinating complex itineraries can prove challenging and time-consuming for travel advisors. That’s why we’re here,” he notes.
As an example, he cites a recent 10-day itinerary to Italy and France for a multi-generational family of 15, including 8 adults and 7 children, ranging in ages from 4 to 11 years old. The group flew into and out of Milano and traveled to Cannes. During the trip two members of the group wanted to break off for two nights in Malaga, rejoining the group in Cannes.
Dukie Baxter of Travel Concepts in Purdys, New York, provided the cooperation to coordinate the travel arrangements, consisting of private minibus transfers, villa accommodations and two daily English-speaking babysitters. Eurobound also arranged a series of private events, including; a full-day tour to Chianti, a treasure hunt in Siena, a private cooking course and ceramic workshop, cheese and wine tastings, a private tour of the French Riviera with perfume workshops for adults and children, a tour of Monaco with a visit to the Oceanographic museum, and a walking tour of Eze on the French Riviera. Throughout, the difficult task of arranging activities for both adults and children was top of mind.
Award-Winning Attitude
“Our goal is to make the travel advisor the hero,” says Roy, adding that Eurobound works exclusively through travel advisors. “We pride ourselves on attention to detail, and essentially do all the back-office planning for our travel advisors' clients. All itineraries are white labeled, affording the travel advisor the opportunity to incorporate their own logo and brand identification on their materials. To that end we have found that agent loyalty pays dividends,” he adds.
In addition to travel advisor loyalty, two major tourist organizations have recently recognized Eurobound for its work. For the second consecutive year, Atout France, the French Tourist Office, has named Eurobound “Tour Operator of the Year,” as voted by travel professionals. Eurobound is also the recipient of Switzerland Tourism’s bi-annual Sunflower Award in recognition of the company’s professionalism, innovation and cooperation.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
