Pink Jeep Tours Unveils New Tour Trekker
Las Vegas-based Pink Jeep Tours, a tour company that specializes in off-road trips throughout the Southwest, unveiled its newest luxury, off-road tour vehicle, the Tour Trekker, earlier this month.
The new vehicle, which has been in development for the past four years, is custom-built to easily navigate rough desert terrain and comfortably seat up to 10 passengers. Each Tour Trekker comes with reclining leather captain seats, 15-inch DVD players, large tinted windows for unparalleled and unobstructed viewing, cross compartment A/C venting to increase passenger comfort and foam insulated walls for a quieter ride and superb climate control. The specially designed wheel base provides a smoother ride with dual rear wheels for stability and safety.
"We saw this trend coming years ago. We knew in order to get ahead, we needed to find that special vehicle to service our niche market," Pink Jeep Tours owner Shawn Wendell said. "But when we realized we could not find that vehicle, we decided to create it ourselves from scratch. This was a bold move for a sightseeing company but we took the gamble anyway."
The new Tour Trekker will be offered on 10 different off-road trips through the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, Eldorado Canyon, Mt. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, Zion National Park and the Valley of Fire. Most tours depart at 7:45 a.m. with half-day tours departing at 7:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. By the end of the year, there will be a total of 20 Tour Trekkers in Las Vegas with four in Sedona, Ariz.
Pink Jeep Tours
www.pinkjeep.com
Monograms Debuts 30 New Vacations for 2009
Monograms, an FIT tour operator under the Globus family of brands, is gearing up for 2009 with 30 new vacation packages throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia and the South Pacific.
Madrid is one of many destinations clients can visit through Monograms’ new 2009 itineraries
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"All of these [new vacation packages] were directed by agents. That’s the reason why we added them," Steve Born, VP of marketing for the Globus family of brands, told TravelAge West.
Although traditional FIT travel has not always yielded high agent revenues, Born believes that selling Monograms vacations helps agents generate business from independent travelers that might otherwise be lost to do-it-yourself online booking engines or non-commissionable cruise items.
"[Agents] can be proactive and present a land opportunity to those same cruise clients when they come back from their summer cruise," he said. "It’s a way to capture that revenue that may have floated away, so to speak."
New itineraries feature off-the-beaten-path destinations and often combine multiple cities, reflecting the 5-year-old brand’s growth and maturation. Some of the most popular packages, Born predicted, will be those scheduled for Germany and Spain. Other options include itineraries to the Galapagos Islands, as well as one that visits Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin. All itineraries also feature a Monograms Local Host who remains on-site to assist travelers throughout their stay. Offerings can be tailored for families, honeymooners and European cruise clients.
Going forward, Born assured that pricing for all Monograms vacation packages would remain competitive and yield higher-than-average agent commission rates. Commission rates with Monograms range anywhere from 13 to 17 percent.
"The beauty of Monograms is that we can leverage our Globus contracts and relationships," said Born. "We’re taking advantage of decade-long relationships with these hotels … We put so much into a Monograms vacation that if an agent had to go piece-by-piece it might turn out to be more expensive," he said.
www.globusfamilypartner.com
www.monogramstravel.com
CIE Tours Offers European River Cruise DiscountClients who book a 12-day/10-night Christmas Wonderland cruise-tour aboard CIE Tours International’s Amadagio luxury ship will receive a $400 discount per couple for the Nov. 28 departure. With the discount, the cruise price starts at $2,099 per person, land-only.
The tour starts with three days and nights in Paris with local sightseeing, followed by a coach trip through the Champagne region of France to board the seven-night cruise at Trier. From there, the tip takes clients along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, cutting through the center of Germany, to visit Bernkastel, Cochern, Boppard, Mainz or Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Amsterdam. The itinerary also includes time to shop at local Christmas Markets in Trier, Frankfurt, Cologne and Dusseldorf.
The price includes hotel accommodations for three nights with daily buffet breakfast in Paris; a ship transfer from Paris; a seven-night cruise with deluxe accommodations in an outside stateroom; all meals onboard; a selection of quality wines with dinners; a cocktail reception on the first night; sightseeing activities as outlined in the itinerary; and an "infotainment" system in all staterooms with Internet access; and a movie and music library and English-language television stations.
Code 103108CHR must be used at time of booking to secure the discount, and discounts only apply to new reservations.
www.cietours.com
Travel Bound Offers 18 New European Christmas Market Land PackagesTravel Bound is giving independent travel clients an opportunity to book one of 18 new packages that visit European Christmas markets throughout central and northern European towns such as Munich, Salzburg, Basel, Berlin, Bratislava, Geneva, Hamburg, Krakow, Prague, Stockholm, Tallinn and Vienna. Agent commission is 15 percent.
Most packages include a three-, four- or five-night, five-star hotel accommodations, daily breakfast, hotel tax and service charges and roundtrip private airport or rail transfers. Packages to Geneva and Salzburg also include a Christmas-themed sightseeing tour.
Package rates range anywhere from $133 to approximately $394, and all tours can be customized.
www.booktravelbound.com
