Sports Tourism travel Groups

Kuoni Group Travel Experts [1] – the world’s leading group travel provider – attends World Travel Market (4-7 November 2013) to connect with suppliers and destinations that continue to benefit from the popularity of tailor-made programmes for communities of travellers with a common interest.

Organising 45, 000 leisure tours every year, leading destinations in terms of the number of room nights booked so far this year are Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain with the United Kingdom sitting just outside the top five. All five key Nordic destinations – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – are already seeing room nights exceed 2012 this year, with Norway and Iceland enjoying their third consecutive year of growth. It suggests that the Northern Lights continue to be a popular draw.

The Irish Republic has also seen steady year-on-year growth since 2010, while the UK has quickly recovered its position, growing 12% so far in 2013 after a drop in demand last year due to the Olympic Games in London.

David Painter, Chief Executive Officer of Kuoni Group Travel Experts, says: “The value of group tours is often overlooked in the travel industry, but it plays a vital role in its sustainable success. Kuoni Group Travel Experts serves the needs of large numbers of newer travellers, particularly from nations with massive populations – such as China or Japan – which are also enjoying economic growth, infrastructure improvements and increasingly affluent citizens who are looking to explore long haul destinations for the first time.

“Group travel also serves another trend at the opposite end of the spectrum. In more mature source markets – such as the USA – we are seeing more people travel together to enjoy a shared interest, such as film tourism, food and drink, hiking or sport. Kuoni Group Travel Experts also serves the growing US cruise market by providing day excursions and sightseeing in popular ports around the world.”