Globus Family Launches ‘Your Way’ Campaign to Promote Product Synergy

The Globus Family of Brands launched a new campaign called “Your Way” to boost the brand synergy between its river cruise product and its land touring programs.

With river cruising continuing to ride a 15-year wave of growing popularity, Globus introduced its “Your Way” campaign to highlight the potential advantages of combining its Avalon Waterways river cruise programs with either escorted touring vacations from its Globus brand or independent package programs from its Monograms brand.

Avalon now makes it easy to add any of its land touring options to a river cruise booking.

These combinations have been available before, but the brand’s new marketing campaign was designed to draw attention to the possible synergies between its various divisions and products, and to make it easier to combine them in a single booking.

“What’s new for 2020 is the whole new level of flexibility,” said Steve Born, chief marketing officer of the Globus family of brands. “In the past, we pre-packaged most of our Avalon cruises with pre- or post-nights, and additionally offered some combinations with three-night Monograms Getaway packages and Globus tours.

“For 2020, we’re giving cruisers more choice and customizable options by offering Avalon pre- or post-night options, an expanded selection of Monograms Getaway choices, and Globus tour connections. It’s a way of further leveraging the Globus family of brands for Avalon cruisers to provide an unprecedented degree of cruise plus land options to suit today’s cruisers.”

The options
Avalon Waterways has its own shore excursion program, offering guided land extensions from its river cruises. Besides Avalon’s own river cruise land extensions, clients can choose from escorted, guided land vacations with Globus or Monograms independent packages.

Globus tours are the company’s legacy brand of escorted touring, dating back to 1928 when Antonio Mantegazza founded Globus Viaggi, offering scenic boat rides on Lake Lugano in Switzerland. When Mantegazza discovered a market, he purchased a motorcoach and built a business in land touring. The company started offering its tours in the U.S. in the 1950s, and is still one of the top operators. Globus tours are escorted with support from beginning to end, based on an itinerary and traveling with a group.

Monograms is a simplified packaged vacation product designed to make use of the operator’s tour and destination management infrastructure to create an independent travel experience. The Monograms product essentially includes meet-and-greet at the airport or boat; transfers to a selected hotel; a basic sightseeing orientation tour; local hosting; and on-call assistance.

Monograms, introduced by Globus in 2003, was designed for those who want to travel on their own rather than with a group, but still want some professional guidance and support at the destination. Monograms makes it possible to purchase the essentials of a vacation with a single booking, and with the confidence that the selections have been made and put together by experienced tour professionals.

Avalon choice
In addition to available add-ons, Avalon is offering a variety of shore excursions included within the basic package catering to the varying tastes of its passengers. Avalon riverboats post a menu of daily choices for land excursions offered in various degrees of independence and intensity.

The company offers its shore excursions in three categories. Classic excursions include a tour of the destination with a local guide and expert in history and culture. Discovery excursions are based on interactive experiences, such as cooking classes or painting workshops. Active excursions include such activities as biking, canoeing, jogging or hiking.

Avalon offers an app called AvalonGo that helps travelers understand what is available at each destination and how to make the most of it.

According to Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways, the goal of the “Your Way” initiative is to make more options available and to make the choices easy to understand and utilize.

“With our new Avalon ‘Your Way’ program,” said Hoffee, “we’re making it easier for travelers to extend their river cruise vacation with land itineraries that are perfectly suited to their preferences and budget.”