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From Top-of-Market Hotels to Tents (No Kidding) |
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Upscale Tour Operators Chip Away At Trip Elements To Cut Prices
Michelle Higgins, the Practical Traveler columnist for The New York Times, reports on upscale tour companies replacing top-of-the-market hotels and implementing other measures to reduce overall prices.
She cites Classic Journeys, an upscale operator in La Jolla that normally puts customers up in the likes of Jasper Lake Lodge, a Fairmont resort in the Canadian Rockies; In 2009, for the first time, the company is introducing camping trips for about $700 less than itineraries that include hotel stays.
There’s plenty of fancy stuff (chefs do the cooking and the sheets are Egyptian cotton) but guests must share bathrooms and sleep on air mattresses.
Some operators are offering shorter – and thus cheaper options to their selections; or allowing customers to use their frequent flier miles rather that including airfare in prices. Even Abercrombie& Kent, which pretty much exemplifies the upper end of the tour market, has split some of its tours into shorter, less expensive excursions. Instead of a 14-day Highlights of East Africa at $6,375, travelers can choose Highlights of Kenya or Tanzania alone, 10 days each at $4,500.
Higgins also reports:
* Insight Vacations, not strictly a luxury operator, has added eight itineraries to its European Essentials tours, which cater to budget-minded travelers, at a saving of 20% or more compared with the company’s premium tours. Travelers give up: guided excursions and convenient hotels. On the other hand, some might like the extra free time to do things on their own.
* Similarly, mega-operator Trafalgar Tours has added more CostSaver family trips to its roster – again with less guided sightseeing and less convenient hotels.
* General Tours World Traveler, in Keene, New Hampshire, has introduced Best Buy Vacations; this time the hotels are centrally located but less luxurious.
* Other approaches to cost savings are available from operators. For instance, some are waiving singles supplement fees – which can really add up.
To read the entire article, see: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/travel/28practour.html?ref=travel
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