ITC Luxury Travel Group has just finished its best trading month ever, and with an ever-expanding portfolio of new resorts, touring itineraries and escorted group trips, this winter press release rounds up ten stories to know for 2017.

Contents:

1. Group News: ITC Luxury Travel Group celebrates its best month ever
2. Escorted Tours: New group tour celebrates America's burgeoning craft beer industry
3. Escorted Tours: Learn about wildlife from the experts
4. Escorted Tours: Sports tours go on sale for 2017's major events
5. Escorted Tours: Rainbow Tours launches its first exclusive small group tour to Botswana
6. New Properties: Uber luxury arrives in Madagascar
7. New Properties: Villa Select adds new, large villas in a response to increased demand
8. New Properties: New openings added to ITC Luxury Travel's portfolio
9. Family Travel: Western & Oriental develops new family itineraries in the USA
10. Publications update: The latest magazines, brochures and videos

GROUP NEWS

1. ITC Luxury Travel Group celebrates its best month ever

ITC Luxury Travel Group had its best trading month ever in January 2017, proving that the luxury travel industry is still buoyant in the face of consumer uncertainty. Sales peaked in the final week of the month with consumers keen to take advantage of special offers before their end-of-month expiration dates and, no doubt, coinciding with the first post-Christmas pay-day. Holidays worth £12 million were sold during January alone across the group's travel brands which include ITC Luxury Travel, Western & Oriental, Rainbow Tours, Regent Holidays and Villa Select. ITC Sports Travel had a particularly successful month, with sales up more than 200% on January 2016 thanks to Ashes tours going on sale for next winter. For its financial year to date, sales across the ITC Luxury Travel Group are up 11% on the same period in 2016. All of ITC's brands sell via the travel trade as well as directly to consumers and an increase in agency sales across all brands has been a key contributor to this growth. 

CEO Jennifer Atkinson comments: “We know that the weather in Britain will always be average, so whilst holidaymakers might consider more carefully where they go or what type of trip they want, they will continue to travel overseas in search of sunshine. I'm delighted with our strong start to 2017, but success for me isn't just measured in increased sales. These figures also indicate that consumers are recognising the benefits of booking their trips with experienced travel professionals. Whether they're coming to us directly or booking via a travel agent, consumers are once again placing value in the destination expertise, personal service and financial security they receive when booking with a tour operator.” 

www.itcluxurytravelgroup.co.uk/

ESCORTED TOURS

2. New group tour celebrates America's burgeoning craft beer industry

The craft beer scene in Washington, Oregon and Northern California is the theme of Western & Oriental's new escorted trip, Craft Beer Tour From Seattle to San Francisco, which has its first departure in June 2017. Guided by a beer aficionado, the tour begins with tastings of IPAs, stouts and more at small-batch producers in Seattle. In Portland, there's the option to explore breweries by bike and visit some of the 10 along the Hood River; explore the Ale Trail in Eugene; and later in Napa, options include further craft beer tastings, a two-hour trip on the Napa Valley Wine Train or a paired dinner featuring locally produced food and drinks.  To counterbalance the alcohol-focused activities, guests will have plenty of time to explore the beautiful landscapes for which the Pacific Northwest region is known. They will visit Columbia River Gorge; spend a day in Crater Lakes National Park; and walk amongst the giant redwoods in Armstrong Forest. The final two nights are spent at leisure in San Francisco.

This 11-night craft beer tour of the Pacific Northwest costs from £3,135 per person including flights with Virgin Atlantic (into Seattle, out of San Francisco); 10 nights' accommodation; four breakfasts; selected tours, excursions and brewery visits; all transportation and the services of a professional guide and 'beerologist'. This price is based on joining the first tour, which departs on 21st June 2017. Further departure dates are available in July, August and September 2017. The tour will run with a minimum of two participants. Book with Western & Oriental (020 3588 6130, www.westernoriental.com).

3. Learn about wildlife from the experts

Rainbow Tours is offering travellers the chance to learn about African wildlife from real experts in the field on two new departures for 2017. Fans of BBC's long-running Bit Cat Diary series will be familiar with presenter Jonathan Scott, who this October will welcome Rainbow Tours guests to his base at Governors' Camp in Kenya's Masai Mara. The week-long trip will offer some of the world's best wildlife viewing with early morning and afternoon game drives in custom-made 4x4 safari vehicles. Jonathan Scott will escort the group for three days, sharing his expertise on the Mara, the Great Migration, professional wildlife photography and, of course, the big cat families he knows so intimately. The Kenya Masai Mara Safari with Jonathan Scott runs from 8th – 15th October 2017, costing from £4,495 per person including flights, six nights' accommodation at Governors' Camp on a full-board basis, transfers and guiding.

Madagascar is Rainbow Tours' biggest selling destination and the trips the company offers led by Bradt guidebook writer Daniel Austin typically sell out 10 or 11 months in advance. Due to the high demand, Rainbow Tours has just introduced a second escorted departure for 2017, Madagascar Wildlife Extravaganza with Daniel Austin. The 17-day tour in November 2017 takes in a wonderful selection of the country's best known protected areas, from the incredible Tsingy de Bemarha and Kirindy Forest in the western lowlands, the famed Berenty reserve in the dry south, plus the country's top protected rainforest area, Andasibe-Mantadia. With five per cent of the world's known animal and plant species found only in Madagascar, nature and wildlife are high on the agenda and tour leader Daniel Austin along with local guides will introduce travellers to unique species including, of course, numerous species of lemur. Daniel Austin is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Madagascar and co-author of Madagascar Wildlife: A Visitors' Guide, so guests on this tour really will have a bona fide expert escorting them along the way. The 17-day tour starts from £5,995 per person based on two sharing, including international and domestic flights, all transfers and transportation, the services of Daniel Austin, an English-speaking Malagasy guide and drivers throughout the trip, park permits and park guide fees, all accommodation and all meals. Early booking is advised as this tour has a maximum group size of 10.  

Both of these trips can be booked with Rainbow Tours (020 7666 1266, www.rainbowtours.co.uk)

4. Sports tours go on sale for 2017's major events

ITC Sports Travel (www.itcsports.co.uk) has released spectator packages for many of 2017's biggest sporting events, including the US Masters Golf, the Monaco Grand Prix, Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and the 2017-18 Ashes series in Australia. For over 30 years, ITC Sports Travel has offered such tours, combining luxury accommodation, premium sports tickets, unique functions and excursions and celebrity hosts, escorted by experienced tour managers.

Offering the chance to spend Christmas in Melbourne, New Year's Eve in Sydney or simply enjoy the popular cities of Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide during the UK winter, cricketing packages to the Ashes are always particularly popular with ITC Sports Travel clients and have recently gone on sale. A range of packages are available, covering one or more of the five Tests. Prices start from £3,445 per person based on two adults travelling together on the Brisbane Cricketer Tour, 19th – 28th November 2017. Those looking to travel over the festive season can join the Melbourne & Sydney Cricketer Tour, which runs from 21st December – 9th January 2017, covering two Tests and with prices starting from £8,785 per person based on two sharing. Travellers can also upgrade from Cricketer packages to Platinum Tours which offer a higher level of accommodation, extra functions and excursions, plus hospitality facilities at the Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth Test Matches. Platinum packages start from £5,395 per person for the Brisbane Platinum Tour. For fuller details on the 2017-18 Ashes Series packages, including itineraries and prices, please see http://www.itcsports.co.uk/cricket/the-ashes/.

To browse other sporting packages available with ITC Sports Travel, see www.itcsports.co.uk. 

5. Rainbow Tours launches its first exclusive small group tour to Botswana

Following its 50th anniversary of Independence, its central role in the David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike film A United Kingdom and its inclusion on several 2016 'travel hot lists', Rainbow Tours has seen an increased interest in Botswana, prompting the introduction of its first group tour to the country this summer. The Exclusive Botswana Small Group Tour will take guests into the immense Okavango Delta ecosystem, situated in the middle of the largest stretch of continuous sand in the world, where animals gather in vast herds seeking water in the dry season. They will then visit the Moremi Game Reserve to scour the huge concentrations of wildlife against the scenic landscapes. The final days are spent in the Savute region of Chobe National Park, Botswana's original and most biologically diverse national park where lion and elephant are some of the main draws.

This group tour, exclusive to Rainbow Tours customers, runs from 23rd June – 4th July 2017 with a maximum of 14 passengers. Guests will stay in comfortable walk-in tented accommodation with built in floors, Mosquito gauzes, proper beds, linen and towels. As well as multiple game drives throughout the trip, travellers will also take to the water to look for wildlife from boats and mokoros. The 12-day tour costs from £4,450 per person including flights, accommodation, transportation, a full safari team including a licenced guide, driver, cook and a camp assistant, all meals, all activities specified in the itinerary and entrance and camping fees. Book with Rainbow Tours (020 7666 1266, www.rainbowtours.co.uk).

NEW PROPERTIES

6. Uber luxury arrives in Madagascar

Madagascar will welcome a new level of luxury accommodation when Miavana opens this spring on Nosy Anakao, part of a group of five small, reef-ringed isles off the north-eastern Malagasy coast. Apart from relaxing here in style, guests can enjoy land and water-based adventure activities including jet skiing, helicopter rides, scuba diving, deep-sea fishing – and of course, no trip to Madagascar would be complete without nature excursions in search of the island's unique wildlife species such as the Golden-crowned (Tattersal's) lemur and the all-black Perrier's sifakas. Rainbow Tours offers an eight-day trip, Miavana – Luxury Madagascar at its best – from £17,290 per person based on two adults sharing. This price includes return flights between Johannesburg and Antananarivo (Madagascar), helicopter transfer to Miavana and seven nights' accommodation in a luxury one-bedroom villa on an all-inclusive basis. Book with Rainbow Tours (020 7666 1266, www.rainbowtours.co.uk)

7. Villa Selects adds new, large villas in a response to increased demand

Villa Select (www.villaselect.com) has added 18 new villas in Europe to its portfolio for the 2017 season, 16 of which sleep eight or more guests to respond to an increasing demand for larger properties. “Even just in the last year we've noticed a significant rise in large groups travelling together,” comments Villa Select's brand manager Becci Aldridge. “Whether it's groups of friends, families holidaying together or multi-generational getaways, the message is out that villa holidays offer value, flexibility and the right kind of space for a group to relax and enjoy each other's company.”

Newly introduced villas include Villa Domenico in Agrigento, Sicily, near the Valley of the Temples archaeological site. Accommodation here is split across a main house and an annex, each with its own living area and kitchen, so this would be a great house for two families travelling together. The villa sleeps 14 guests in total and key features including the free-form swimming pool, a well- equipped games room, one indoor and one outdoor Jacuzzi. Prices start from £3,584 per week. Children will love Villa C'an Telma in Pollensa, Mallorca – as well as the tennis court and kids' playground, there's a slide straight into the large outdoor pool. This villa sleeps 12 guests across six bedrooms, with prices starting from £5,848 per week. In the ever-popular Algarve, Villa Berliner sleeps eight guests in the main house plus two further guests in a self-contained suite, making it the ideal option for a holiday with grandparents who might appreciate a little peace and quiet sometimes. The villa boasts extensive grounds and hilltop views out to sea. Along with the two outdoor pools, Villa Berliner has a pool table, table tennis and table football to keep guests entertained. Prices start from £4,990 per week. All prices quoted here exclude flights and all villas can be booked through Villa Select (01789 595435, www.villaselect.com).

8. New openings added to ITC Luxury Travel's portfolio

ITC Luxury Travel has added a number of new hotels to its portfolio which will debut in 2017. In Europe, these include the family-friendly Anantara Vilamoura, Anantara's first property in Europe which opens on the Algarve in April; Sani Dunes which opens in June in Greece; and the new nine-bedroom villa at Amanzoe, also in Greece, which sleeps up to 20 guests, has six swimming pools and features a full complement of staff. Further afield, the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah opens its doors in Dubai in April. Further details can be found at www.itcluxurytravel.co.uk.

FAMILY TRAVEL

9. Western & Oriental develops new family itineraries in the USA

From California's beaches to a wild west experience on a ranch, and from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the heights of New York City, Western & Oriental has developed four new multi-centre trips to provide families with some all-American adventures this year. Family Whale Watching, Wilderness and Wild West Ranch (10 days, from £8,999 per adult and from £4,999 per child) combines city sights and whale watching from Seattle with five nights at the luxury Relais & Chateaux Ranch at Rock Creek where families can ride horses or try other outdoors activities including fly fishing and mountain biking. California Coast – Family Discovery (nine days, from £3,350 per adult and from £1,465 per child) lets families explore the Golden State from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The trip price includes a number of attractions such as a surfing lesson in Santa Barbara; one-day tickets to Universal Studios, Hollywood; horse riding at Carmel Valley Ranch; ferry tickets and a self-guided tour of Alcatraz, plus more. On the Family Adventure Through Utah's National Parks Plus Las Vegas, compare the USA's natural wonders including Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and Monument Valley with one of its glitziest man-made cities, Las Vegas (13 days, from £3,410 per adult and from £1,335 per child). Or explore the east, with Florida's Theme Parks and New York Family Adventure (11 days, from £3,675 per adult and from £1,280 per child), where the trip includes unlimited access passes to the Disney and Universal theme parks around Orlando, plus an attraction pass to visit some of New York City's top sights. Please see the individual web pages for more information on each trip, along with full details on price inclusions. Prices are based on July, August or October departures as specified on each individual trip page. All prices include return flights, accommodation and transportation. Book with Western & Oriental (020 3588 6130, www.westernoriental.com).

PUBLICATIONS UPDATE

10. The latest magazines, brochures and videos

• The Winter/Spring 2017 issue of customer magazine Other Shores has just been published, featuring travel news, interviews and feature articles. In this issue, Sarah Gilbert walks with chimpanzees in Tanzania; guidebook founder Hilary Bradt takes a journey into North Korea; and Georgina Wilson-Powell visits St Vincent and the Grenadines, filming location of the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie
• Rainbow Tours turns 20 in 2017. The new Celebrating 20 Years brochure recommends some of the team's favourite destinations and trips for each month of the year and outlines how the company's responsible tourism practices have contributed to the communities and wildlife of these regions
• Regent Holidays' Iceland and the Islands Summer 2017 was recently published and includes details on campervan holidays in Iceland – a fantastic new option for exploring the country's dramatic landscapes in an independent manner
• ITC Luxury Travel's Seasonal Escapes guide was published this week, offering news and inspiration for spring travel in Europe, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean
• Staff from across the ITC group have been jetting off to exotic destinations armed with video cameras to give customers an idea of what they can see, do and experience when travelling with each brand. Click the links to view our newest short films on Madagascar, North Korea, Oman, South Africa and Costa Rica

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For further information and images, please contact Kate Popham, Group Head of PR, ITC Luxury Travel Group on 020 7666 1259 or email kate@westernoriental.com