Railbookers has brought out new luxury and UK rail holiday brochures to capitalise on growing demand for bucket list breaks and closer-to-home trips.
The separate Luxury Rail Journeys and UK Independent Rail Holidays programmes have launched as e-brochures offering trips for 2021-2022.
The luxury brochure is in response to growing demand for high-ticket experiences, with the rail specialist’s average ‘sell-at’ rate for holidays this summer and autumn 56% higher on average than 2019, pre-Covid, and 91% up for 2022.
It offers customisable rail experiences including the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, Excellence Class on the Glacier Express, Golden Eagle Luxury Trains and Belmond’s Royal Scotsman and features additional destinations and excursions such as five-star accommodation, dining experiences and river cruise extensions.
Sales and marketing manager Anna Davies said: “To date in 2021, Railbookers has been witnessing an incredible surge in higher-ticket holidays.
“Before Covid, travellers might have booked the Venice-Simplon Orient-Express one year and then a few years later booked the Grand Glacier Express, this year we are seeing them combining both itineraries and travelling longer, selecting more luxurious accommodation, and making this holiday they have waited a year or more to take something truly spectacular.”
The eight-day Rome and Florence to Paris on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express costs from £3,349.
The UK brochure features independent rail trips from any local train station, ranging from the highlands of Scotland to journeys to York, Edinburgh or the Cornish coast as well as a journey on the Jacobite Steam Train. The ten-day Grand Tour of Scotland is priced from £1,199.
Holidays in Scotland currently account for a third of bookings, said Davies, who added: “We have seen demand continue to increase from customers looking for a holiday closer to home, within the UK.”