RAILTOURS IRELAND HEADS FOR EX LONDON OFFERS
Railtours Ireland, Ireland’s leading tour company offering packages by rail, has celebrated ten years in business by crossing the Irish Sea.
Seeing a gap in the market for tourists wanting to choose a greener travel option to Ireland, but also wanting a traditional tourist package while they are there, Railtours Ireland has launched a London-Ireland package, to add to their current domestic packages to leading tourist spots around Ireland.
Railtours Ireland is working in partnership with Virgin Trains and StenaLine, offering a Monday to Saturday service leaving London Euston at 9am on the four hour direct train journey to Holyhead, which meets StenaLines’s high-speed HSS ferry to Dun Laoghaire, only a twenty minute coastal train journey to Dublin city centre. Customers then stay for a minimum of two nights, and choose from one of Railtours Ireland’s already-existing tours around the country, travelling with their well-established partner, Irish Rail (tours vary from a half day tour to the mountains and lakes of County Wicklow, to a six day tour around Ireland). The London-Ireland tours will operate from March to October.
At a time of economic downturn in Ireland, Railtours Ireland’ s pioneering new product emanates from the Director, Jim Deegan’s, genuine enthusiasm for rail travel. For him it is simply the best way to travel to and in Ireland: “Taking the train through England and Wales and then crossing the sea to Ireland, is all part of the customers’ experienceâ€.
Railtours Ireland uses state-of-the-art coaches within Ireland to transfer customers between train stations and the various tourist attractions, with full commentary from tour hosts along the way. Hotels included in the packages are all chosen for their proximity to stations, such as the Radisson Galway, only a minute’s walk from Galway’s mainline station.
Railtours Ireland’s move to utilise an already existing Virgin rail service as a way of bringing a traditionally mass tourism product into the ‘green’ sector, is not only timely in terms of environmental issues, but also makes excellent business sense. The company is targeting UK tourists who are becoming more environmentally aware (and financially aware in the current economic climate) and taking more trips closer to home. Deegan is optimistic about his new venture, stating “Every morning a train leaves for Ireland, and we want to fill that trainâ€. With three day packages from €289, his optimism is well founded. This Irish recession cloud has definitely got a green lining.
Cathy Mack
Valere
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