Travel agents can reap greater rewards by connecting cruise passengers with increasingly convenient train journeys across Europe. Rail Europe is seeking a bigger piece of the cruising pie with an expanding range of packages offered by its key distributors Rail Plus, Rail Tickets (JTG), Infinity Rail (Flight Centre) and CIT...
Travel agents can reap greater
rewards by connecting cruise
passengers with increasingly
convenient train journeys
across Europe.
Rail Europe is seeking a bigger piece of
the cruising pie with an expanding range of
packages offered by its key distributors Rail
Plus, Rail Tickets (JTG), Infinity Rail (Flight
Centre) and CIT Holidays.
Travelling with CW on Switzerland’s Glacier
Express between Zermatt and St Moritz,
Richard Leonard, manager Australasia for Rail
Europe said the time was right to tap into the
cruise market.
“With the huge volumes of Australians doing
Med, Baltic and river cruises, there is a great
opportunity for pre-cruise and post-cruise
options by rail,” Leonard said.
“For people wanting to extend their trip in
Europe, or linking from one cruise to another,
rail is best positioned as the most efficient,
comfortable, easy and flexible means of
transport.”
This year has seen a big push toward the
new Italo rail service since Italy deregulated its
rail system.
“Infinity Rail, which has a dedicated cruise
division, is putting together lots of new preand
post-cruise packages using Italo,” he said.
“Italo launched last year as a competitor
against the government-run Trenitalia service,
so they are offering really cheap wholesale
fares that can be used in conjunction with
cruises into and out of Venice and Rome.”
Scenic Tours and APT have also started
offering clients Thalys high-speed train
services between Amsterdam and Paris as an
alternative to coach transfers.
“This gives them an extra half a day in Paris,
a more comfortable trip, and onboard services
such as meals & drinks brought to their table.”
All the major European river routes easily
connect with the Rail Europe network, he said.
“Even in countries such as Switzerland, which
isn’t considered to be a key area for cruise
passengers, there are so many opportunities
for people to get off a ship in Basel and get
onto the excellent Swiss Rail system, and then
they can transfer seamlessly to the famous
Glacier Express or the Golden Ticket.”
Leonard said the rail-cruise combination had
“boomed” in the past 18 months.
“Because of the evolution of the cruise
industry, we are seeing the value of promoting
trains as a complementary product.
“Some people may see cruise and rail as
competition but there is actually a great
affinity between them, with similar onboard
services and ambience, getting on and off
in city centres, and the convenience of
moving from ship to train instead of airports
or car hire,” Leonard added.
For further information and bookings, visit
www.railplus.com.au, www.railtickets.com.au,
Infinity Rail (Flight Centre) and CIT Holidays.
