Globus Journeys has introduced a dedicated range of small-group tours after customer research pointed to an increase in ‘Gen X’ customers, with many found to have different tastes to older travellers.
A total of 50 worldwide tours have been designed for the Small Group Discovery programme, which is on sale now for departures from January 2025.
Lesley Taylor (pictured), UK managing director of the Globus family of brands, said the new trips had been born out of “deep-dive” consumer research commission by the brands and carried out by an independent party.
“The Baby Boomers [born between 1946 to 1964] are our bread and butter, but Gen X [born between 1965 and 1980] is coming up behind – the proportion of sales and the number of customer bookings in that age group is increasing,” she said.
“They have slightly different expectations on what’s important to them. In a nutshell, people are looking for small groups and more authentic experiences, including quirkier and different accommodation.”
The average group size for the European tours will be 15, with the average in the rest of the world being 18.
Smaller group sizes had already been available on a select number of existing tours, but the new range has been specifically designed according to the consumer research results.
Taylor said this has been a strong year for Globus Journeys and Cosmos Tours and a very strong year for river cruise specialist Avalon Waterways.
Cosmos’ trade bookings are up 20% year on year, Globus’ are marginally up and Avalon Waterways’ have risen by 140%.
For the touring brands, Switzerland and Italy are among the destinations performing particularly well for 2025 departures.
“The trade is punching above its weight in terms of the proportion of customers,” Taylor said, adding that the high demand for Europe next year had followed greater interest in long-haul after the pandemic.
She noted increasing numbers of agents were engaging with the touring and adventure sector and she revealed the Globus family of brands would be ramping up its fam trips programme next year.
“When we’re talking to agents right now, what’s brilliant is everyone seems to be keen to move into the adventure space, but not everyone has seen the product. The key focus is to let people see the touring product up close themselves,” she said.
Outlining the importance of the trade, she added: “Travel agents do a phenomenal job with our customers. It’s fantastic that the value of agents continues to increase and I keep hearing about more shops opening.
“We want agents to see the product first hand, and we’ve got people on the road all of the time who are available to support whatever agents need.”