What’s New With Contiki For 2018/19
With the upcoming debut of Contiki’s new travel style, Independent Insider, clients will have the power to customize their European trips and select where they want to go.
“The Independent Insider is basically designed for freedom,” Gabrielle Nydam, president of Contiki Canada, told PressToday at a launch event in Toronto last night (Oct. 10) for the youth travel brand’s Europe Summer 2018/19 program. “Every year we do a lot of extensive research on our clients, millennials, and what they’re looking for, and we saw that 67% of the people wanted more choice on their trips, and about 70% of people were looking for more free time to explore each city their way, but still a good 74% were wanting that social connection with other awesome millennials beyond social media.”
The new modular trips are set to replace the existing Easy Pace travel style, and range from three to 12 nights. With no structured itineraries, and multiple start and end destinations, travellers can select up to four European cities for their tour.
“It’s looking at three nights in every city throughout Europe and it’s come and go when it comes to the locations – let’s say you’re doing London to Berlin, you can drop London and start in Paris, or you can drop Berlin because you’ve been before,” she says.
To learn more about the Independent Insider trip style, check out this video.
In total, Contiki’s Europe Summer 2018/19 program has 26 new and improved trips. New itineraries include The Best of Britain, a 10-day summer-only itinerary to London, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and Cardiff; Ibiza & Beyond, a nine day trip from Barcelona to Ibiza, Valencia and Madrid; Fire & Ice, a six day winter trip in Iceland; and Fiestas & Siestas, an eleven night trip visiting top spots in Spain and Portugal.
Contiki also announced a new partnership with Air Canada Vacations, which will include air packages on top five European experiences and a $50 voucher guests can put towards free-time add-ons.
The operator also extended its early payment discount program by an extra month, from Oct. 18 until Feb. 21, 2018, allowing clients extra time to save up to 10% off their trips.
Stay tuned for more on Contiki in an upcoming edition of Canadian Travel Press.
Pictured at the event at The Drake Hotel (top) are: Sheralyn Berry, vice president of sales for Contiki Canada; Gabrielle Nydam, president, Contiki Canada and Jeff Element, president, The Travel Corporation Canada. On home page: the trio is joined by Brett Tollman, chief executive, The Travel Corporation.
