SMALLER GROUPS GET BIGGER BOOKINGS
THE market for small group tours is growing just as group sizes are shrinking. Bunnik Tours last month announced a reduction of its maximum group size to 20 passengers, and managing director Dennis Bunnik told travelbulletin that the initiative has received a “fantastic” response from agents. He said bookings on the company’s new 2015 Europe program are “already well up” on the 2014 program at the equivalent stage of last year’s booking cycle. The only exception is the company’s Moscow to Prague package where bookings have been impacted by Ukraine hostilities. The 20 passenger limit applies to Bunnik Tours’ Europe,south America,middle East,asia and Africa tours. There are already smaller group sizes in place for some African tours (maximum 12 passengers) and Indo-china (maximum 18 passengers). “Until now groups this small have been limited to adventure travellers and those taking short regional breaks,” claimed Bunnik. With a maximum 20 passengers on full size coaches, Bunnik said clients will experience “the great feeling airline passengers have when they find the seat next to them is free on a flight.” He claimed group sizes are the Europe coach tour industry’s “guilty little secret”. Major coach tour companies’ maximum loads range from 30 to 51 passengers, while Bunnik Tours has until now operated tours with up to 26 passengers. He lamented the lack of an industry standard for small group tours, pointing to advertising of “small intimate groups” of 40 passengers. “That’s just taking the piss,” he said. Bunnik Tours coincided the announcement of smaller groups with the release of its 2015 Europe program comprising 15 tours including four new Cruise & Tour p packages in conjunction with Celebrity C Cruises and Holland America Line. A Also new to the line-up are tours of S Southern Italy, Sicily and Malta, and E Eastern Europe. The increased demand for Europe t tours is part of an upsurge in passeng ger numbers that, according to Bunnik, has more than made up for the drastic downturn in the fortunes of Egypt, previously the dominant destination for the wholesaler. “Prior to the revolution, Egypt accounted for 53% of the passengers we carried,” he said. “It’s now down to five per cent but we are carrying more passengers than ever thanks to growth in our Europe, South America, Africa and Asia programs.”