Rail Tours: Different, Relaxed, Offbeat – and Profitable

Want to offer your clients a different travel experience? Something romantic? Off the beaten path? A relaxed way to travel?

Want to make money, while you’re at it?

Think rail tours.

“Rail tours are a fresh and different sort of trip,” said Sylvia Blishak of Train Travel Consulting at Accent on Travel in Klamath Falls, Ore.

“Rather than being trapped on a bus, people can dine, walk around, use a normal-size restroom, and socialize. Some tracks go where roads do not; so scenery is sometimes fresh and new,” explained Blishak, who co-owns the agency with her husband Ted.

Rail specialists
The Blishaks specialize in customizing upscale rail vacations for individuals looking for something a little different and who consider the onboard journey at least as important as the destination.

Train Travel Consulting has been named a Condé Nast Traveler Magazine Top Travel Specialist for nine consecutive years. The agency is also a top producer for Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada.

Air hassles fuel sales . . .
Train travel is gaining in popularity as more people become fed up with the hassles of air travel, Blishak told Travel Market Report.

“We have noticed for some time that people are booking away from the airlines. If you ride Amtrak you’ll talk to a lot of people who say they’re fed up [with air].”
 
A couple of years ago, Blishak and her husband met Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, while traveling on Amtrak’s Crescent train from New York. Osborne told them he rode the train regularly while shooting a Turner Classic Movies segment in New Orleans.

Blishak recalled their conversation: “He said he’s able to get work done or read a book in the relaxed ambience of the train, and that ‘I just got tired of having to take my shoes off, and once I tried the train, there was no reason not to continue.’”

. . . So do high gas prices
With the spike in gas prices this year, Blishak expects more people to choose rail travel, just as they did when gas prices spiked in 2008.

“We did see a big increase in Amtrak travel a couple of years ago when gas prices peaked. And people were pleased [with the rail experience],” she said.

“‘These are bigger than first class airline seats,’ first-time Amtrak travelers will say of the railroad’s coach seats. So Amtrak has maintained some enthusiasts as a result of the last gas crisis.”

The rail tour difference
“Many travelers think of trains as a novelty, as sort of a nostalgia thing,” Blishak said. “Also, the average traveler has no idea what opportunities are out there, so letting prospects know about these tours will get their attention.”

When traveling by train, the transportation is part of the vacation experience, not simply the means to getting to the destination, she noted.

“We once were in the first class lounge car on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight. A lady joined us for the wine-tasting,” Blishak said. “She was on her way home but, she said, ‘the vacation is still going on. It would be over now if we were on an airplane.’”

Blishak recalled the passenger telling her that “‘my teenage daughter is taking a shower and my husband is napping back in the bedroom. So everybody is able to do what they want to do – Amtrak has something for everyone.’”

Popular with seniors, families
The traveler’s comments illustrated two demographics that are good prospects for rail travel: seniors and family travelers, said Blishak.

Seniors like rail trips because “train travel is a leisurely endeavor, and seniors are less likely to be in a hurry,” she said.

For family travelers, trains provide a diversity of activities in a setting that allows for togetherness.

North American product
Blishak said Canada’s VIA Rail is promoting family travel this year. But she added that she thinks Amtrak has more to offer families.

“VIA features great scenery, but that won’t always hold a child’s interest. The Coast Starlight [Amtrak] has video games. Amtrak Superliners have family bedrooms designed for two adults and three kids.”

Rail tour companies
A lot of rail tours are available but neither consumers nor agents seem to know about them, Blishak said.

“Rail tour companies that are sort of out of the mainstream are Trains and Travel, Uncommon Journeys, Society of International Railway Travelers, Rail Travel Center, Vacations by Rail, Great Escapes,” she noted.

“Mayflower Tours has a series of scenic rail tours. And if you Google ‘rail tours,’ you’ll get companies that do them in other countries, also.”

Amtrak and VIA Rail both have links to tour companies that will put train and hotel packages together for agents, according to Blishak.

Earning higher commissions
Agents earn higher commissions booking through tour operators, Blishak said.

For instance VIA Rail Canada pays a “standard” 5% commission for bookings made online through VIA’s booking engine, according to VIA. The rate is “subject to periodic reviews.”

Blishak books VIA Rail trips through Brewster Vacations Canada, because, she said, “Brewster pays regular commissions on the entire package.”

Amtrak Vacations pays 10% on the land portion of its packages and 8% on Amtrak transportation. Amtrak also has preferred relationships at higher commission levels with agency groups as well as incentives.

Success tip
The Blishaks like trains and ride them frequently, both on Amtrak and on VIA Rail Canada, along with tourist trains such as the Napa Valley Wine Train.  It’s important to experience the products so you’ll know what you’re selling, Blishak advised.