ADVENTURE operator The Imaginative Traveller has combined its Middle East, India and China programmes to help boost sales to Asia.
General manager Warren Smith said the Asia product needed to get more exposure having failed to take off as a standalone programme.
“We are better known as a Middle East specialist, not for India and China, so the standalone Asia product does not get as much coverage,” he said.
“By placing it with the Middle East it is guaranteed to reach a wider audience. It should help us increase sales.”
All the product has been retained, he added.
Smith also stressed that all its products are aimed at the same market.
New for 2000 is Libya and Pakistan.
In Libya, a 14-night escorted tour is featured which takes in the Akakus Mountains in the south before heading back through the Sahara.
The trip costs £1,295, excluding flights.
Marketing director Rena Brennecke said: “We’ve taken a long time to include Libya but it’s opening up to visitors and is a natural extension to our North Africa/Middle East programme.”
While Pakistan is also a natural addition to its programme, Brennecke warned that sales will be slow.
“The unpredictable political situation means we are resigned to a slow take-up for Pakistan,” she said.
Two tours are featured – one focusing on the Indus River and the other offering trekking in the Hindu Kush and Karakorum region.
China and Morocco both have three extra options in the 2000 programme.