Upmarket tours – worth the expense?
Jon takes a look at the continuing move towards upmarket tours.
Here’s a can of worms, as I suspect some readers are wondering just how coach companies that purchase vehicles kitted out for the top end of the touring market recoup their outlay. Well clearly they do, or they wouldn’t do it in the first place.
The history of upmarket tours has been a costly exercise for some, and led to the demise of others, yet some operators not only do very well, but clearly are setting a style and getting the support from the public to expand their programmes.
Although Southdown and the ‘old’ Glenton offered up market coaches with fewer seats, more leg room, and limited luxuries, in general they still used the same hotels as other operators. It wasn’t until the Glider programme was introduced and featured on a television holiday programme that we were able to see a company using upmarket coaches staying at upmarket hotels throughout Europe. This was short lived however, and their demise returned thoughts to ‘normal’ tour coach operations.
I believe it was the introduction of the Wallace Arnold Grand Tourer programme that set the ball rolling again, as this was the first time that a major tour operator offered coaches with more leg room, a lounge area, and deluxe fittings to match a distinctive colour scheme and brochure. The drivers too were issued with uniforms different to other WA tour drivers, and these tours were offered at a supplement on one or two departures of a full season. These rapidly sold out, and it wasn’t long before not only did the programme warrant its own brochure, but other companies were following the trend.
To see a Grand Tourer, Silver Service, Royal Class, or Pullman style coach is not uncommon these days, and with the move towards better quality hotels appears to have helped to hit the right note for both regular and new travellers.
Dave Parry, long associated with award winning upmarket tours in any case, is going to set even higher standards with his new Van Hool being built in Belgium, which is going to take coach travel to the next level. Dave is recognised industry wide as a gentleman who knows and generally gets what he wants, and success follows him around. However, with a reported price tag of £440k this coach has got to show some very healthy returns during its lifetime, and moving into the realms of four and five star hotels could be, I feel, a real gamble. His new class of touring coach, which includes two washrooms – ladies and gentlemen, two fridges, freshly ground coffee, and touch screen technology on every seat back. Built to the exacting and renown standards of Van Hool on a 14 meter body, it is designed to seat 36 passengers in total comfort, and to give them an experience unchallenged in coach travel.
What worries me is how the staff in four and especially five star hotels are going to treat group passengers. Little if any training for dealing with group travel is given in three star hotels, and unless training is given I have to wonder if the right ‘atmosphere’ will be offered. However, Mr Parry has been right in the past, so who is to say he isn’t right again with this move? Dave clearly has done his homework, and feels he has the necessary backing for his loyal client base to make this a success – whilst the rest of us watch with interest. No doubt he has gone into the standard of menu’s that will be offered etc, but it takes a true hotel professional to serve Baron von Shitzenhousen, followed by Lord Cashrich, and then turn to a retired butcher from Coventry who is still trying to decipher the menu.
In all honesty I don’t see this as a risk or gamble, as one of our most respected operators takes coach touring to the highest level. This will not, and clearly is not designed for every operator or indeed client, but I think he may well be onto something for a limited market. Limited it might be, but it is still there, and the only drawback I can see is the economic climate at the moment, which is hitting everyone, even those normally ring fenced against financial changes. Looking at the new itineraries Parry’s have been careful not to go overboard, but have excellent added sellability by the inclusion of some lunches and local guides. These Diamond Class tours aren’t publicly priced at the moment, as I am informed the brochure is at the printers, but it will be interesting to see how they compare with other Parry International holidays.
Parry’s aren’t alone of course, in offering an upmarket brand to compliment other sales, but there is no set standard as to what is or what is not added to the fittings of a normal tour coach. One upmarket brand is, or so it appears, never the same as another, but as most operators are local rather than national, it may be the national operators who may be seen as setting the standard, when in reality it could well be the other way around.
I also have to ask where the standards will take us. I hear one operator is requesting that alcoholic drinks be offered as well as coffee and soft drinks for 2011. Is this really the way to go? Someone clearly thinks so.
At the moment there is definitely a call for upmarket tours, but it is not the market. Could this be the sign of things to come? Possibly. What do you think?
The market is constantly changing, and those offering something perceived as better quality are strong contenders to see themselves through difficult financial times. How else would Cunard, BA, M and S and others succeed so well when there are cheaper alternatives around? This may appear a strange analogy, but we (or rather, you) are selling a product, and unless the product, whatever it might be, is what the public are willing to purchase you are doomed to failure. If M and S is an upmarket supermarket, there is still room for Netto and Aldi, so if Diamond Class is an upmarket tour brand, there is still room for the cheap end of coach touring, along with everyone – the Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s if you will – in between.
Good luck to Mr Parry – it might appear to be step too far to some, but he clearly knows his stuff, and others may soon be playing catch up to a greater of lesser extent.
This coach is going to draw comments as it is proudly displayed at this weeks Euro Bus Expo Show at the NEC. I suspect many will be doing calculations to decide what they need to think about changing for their next coach order.
