As many European nations relax their COVID-19-era travel restrictions and seek to draw travelers back to their borders, Eurail is also readying itself for a new wave of clients; the rail provider has not only introduced a company rebrand, but it is also making it easier for travel advisors to sell the product.
Launched March 1, the rebrand focuses on company values, including curiosity, flexibility and openness, accompanied by a new logo reminiscent of a horizon. In addition to better capturing the company’s essence and identity, the goal of the redesign was to build visual recognition that will match the brand’s decades of product recognition.
We are really looking forward to seeing how we can support travel agents, help them get to know more about rail, and drive recovery together with our partners.
Since 2020, Eurail has offered a Mobile Pass (along with its traditional paper pass), which now represents more than 92% of the company’s pass sales. This high demand inspired Eurail to also create a platform for new and existing partners to distribute Mobile Passes to their clients.
“Travel agents have been the main driver for pass growth in the United States,” said Yi Ding, business and growth development manager for Eurail. “With our new distribution platform, we upgraded the Eurail ticketing system, which is a web-based application for retail agents to issue the pass on the spot. We now allow companies of all sizes to distribute our products and offer a digital pass instead of a paper pass.”
According to Ding, Eurail wants to help more U.S. advisors sell rail products — and the company is focused on making that process as easy and accessible as possible.
“We want to open up our distribution network, as well as our rail content, for more agents to access, because we know many agents see us an entry point to start selling rail products,” Ding said. “That’s why we really made our API [application programming interface] services and integration simple, easy and quick.”
Ding says Eurail realizes one of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is, in many cases, a downsized team at U.S. travel agencies. To help advisors working with leaner resources, in particular, Eurail is focused on “constantly improving” its distribution platform, so that the company and its partners can move toward recovery together.
In fact, Eurail has already started seeing positive signs pointing toward a travel rebound. According to Ding, in some destinations, the brand is seeing numbers that even exceed 2019 figures.
“Our confidence is really boosted for 2022, [allowing us] to invest in more innovation,” Ding said.
Other trends driving recovery include high demand for Italy, France and Germany, as well as considerable growth in single-country rail passes — reflecting an increased preference among clients for traveling within a single country, as opposed to bouncing between European nations.
And, as part of the company’s strategy for welcoming back American travelers, Ding says Eurail is focused on partnering with more U.S. travel advisors.
“We firmly believe in local experts,” Ding said. “And we have a lot of ambition to recover this year. So, we are really looking forward to seeing how we can support travel agents, help them get to know more about rail, and drive recovery together with our partners.”
Travel agents who want to learn more about working with Eurail can visit the company's partner page for more information.
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