From Asia to various destinations in Europe, these tour companies are offering tours abroad that give your clients first-hand cultural experiences. Here are a few you can choose from—some even saving your clients with early bookings.
Khiri Travel Vietnam has launched a new tour celebrating the culture of Kon Tum and its nearby villages in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in an area known as “The Space of Gong Culture.” UNESCO recognizes the mountain culture as an intangible World Heritage experience, as the culture is mostly preserved in language, gong music, oral history, and values. Your clients will take part in a discovery trip that includes a night in Pleiku; a tour to see the Rong houses of the Bahnar tribe where travelers will get to drink rice liquor through long bamboo straws; a visit to the Catholic seminary in Kon Tum, and two days of trekking the mountains with an overnight in a forest cottage.
“The people genuinely welcome visitors. We take our time to meet them and learn about their daily life, traditions and culture. It’s an insight into a mystical world. The Central Highlands of Vietnam are unlike anywhere else in the world. Visiting the gong people of Kon Tum is both a poignant and highly rewarding travel experience,” says Hugues Springer, business manager for Khiri Travel Vietnam. For more information, visit khiri.com.
Foreign Independent Tours is offering several packages to Croatia, Italy, Turkey, and Morocco, as well as central and eastern Europe. Among the itineraries is the 14-day Zagreb to Venice journey, which includes first-class hotels, daily breakfast and eight dinners, arrival and departure transfers, tours on motor coach buses, a tour director, luggage handling, and headsets for sightseeing tours. Rates start at $2,859 pp for travel through October 2014. Agents earn 10 percent commission, and FAM rates are also available starting at $2,679 per agent. For more information, visit fittours.com/viewpackage.
Those looking for a shorter trip will enjoy the 5-day Weekend in the Tuscan Countryside itinerary where your clients can enjoy the wine and cuisine of the Tuscan countryside. The package includes four nights in a superior double room at Villa II Patriarca, 5-day car rental services, daily breakfast, one dinner at La Taverna del Patriarca—located in the old wine cellars of the villa—a guided tour of an old wine cellar of Montepuleciano, and a wine tasting. Rates for travel through December 2014 start at $689 pp. Agents earn 7 percent commission on this booking, and FAM rates are available for $549 per agent. For more information, visit fittours.com/viewpackage. To see more itineraries, visit fittours.com.
CIE Tours International has announced a new 2015 Grand Tour of Britain & Ireland. The 24-day fully inclusive escorted tour visits five capital cities, and includes historic walking tours and dinner shows. Starting off in London, your clients will travel north through the English countryside, explore the Scottish Highlands, and then take a ferry to Ireland for more sightseeing. When returning to Britain, travelers will spend two days in Wales and two days in Cornwall—two destinations that are considered hidden gems of the British Isles. The package includes airport transfers when booking CIE Tours flights; sightseeing by luxury coach; a tour director; 23 nights in hotels; daily breakfast and dinners; tours of London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Galway, Dublin, Cardiff, and Plymouth; a London open-top bus tour with a Tower of London or Kensington Palace visit; a Loch Ness cruise; an Oban Distillery whisky tasting and tour; roundtrip ferry transportation to the Isle of Mull; sheepdog trails on Ring of Kerry; headsets for tours; and much more. Rates start at $6,058 pp dbl. For more information, call (800) 243-8687 or visit travelagent.cietours.com or cietours.com/us.
On Foot Holidays is offering a self-guided walking and hiking tour in the French Alps. Travelers can take in the mountain scenery with views of Mont Blanc and Chamonix, as well as glaciers and lambent snowfields. Your clients will stay in alpine hotels and bed & breakfasts, while enjoying the food and wine of Savoy.
“Stop, breathe in, listen to the cow-bell silence and absorb the extraordinary vistas around you. This is our hardest walk, and though demanding, experiencing such magnificence is worth the challenge,” says Simon Scutt, the company’s managing director.
Travelers will experience 3.5- to 6-hour walking and hiking tours. Rates for the 7-night itinerary start at $1,430 now through September, and include accommodations in seven bed & breakfasts, four evening meals, four picnics, and luggage transfers between hotels. For more information, visit onfootholidays.co.uk.
You can now save your clients with early bookings on 2015 tours to Italy with Perillo Tours. Your clients will receive $250 off per couple with deposits made by Sept. 5, 2014 on any of the eight itineraries available. The 2015 tours include the 9-day Rome & the Amalfi Coast, the 12-day South & Sicily, the 14-day North Continental tour, the 14-day North Classic journey, the 10-day Marco Polo itinerary, the 9- or 10-day Eat, Pray, Love journey, the 9-day A Tuscan Dream itinerary, and the 10-day Vesuvius tour. For more information, call (800) 482-5925 or visit perillogroups.com.
