Entire Travel Group officially launched its luxury Rail Journeys program to travel advisors in Sydney on Wednesday night, unveiling a line up of 65 independent rail packages with operators such as Belmond, Rocky Mountaineer, Golden Eagle, Rovos Rail, The Blue Train and others.
Brad McDonnell, Managing Director of Entire Travel Group said the new rail division was “20 years in the making,” brought forward following the pandemic and a strong performing Canada division which features both the Rocky Mountaineer and VIA Rail.
McDonnell and Greg McCallum, Entire Travel Group’s Sales & Marketing Director, saw a gap in the market to build on the successes of former Australasian rail specialist, Rail Plus, which was absorbed by Rail Europe in 2016.
Entire Rail Journeys has been created by the “brains trust” that were behind the original Rail Plus program, including the core Great Trains Journeys offering that spanned luxury rail operations around the world, McDonnell said.
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McCallum was previously the National Sales Manager for Rail Plus for nearly a decade, while Sana Malihi – who developed the offering at Rail Plus – was Product Manager, and Zoe Condon had headed up reservations for that luxury train program for several years. After the demise of Rail Plus, Condon kept on track with her rail focus with roles at Rocky Mountaineer and as an International Rail Specialist at Infinity Holidays.
Malihi and Condon were both recruited by Entire in recent years to construct the Entire Rail Journeys portfolio.
McDonnell said: “That’s a lot of experience and that’s what we’re all about, building on the company slogan of “When Experience Matters.” We don’t take on a new product because it’s an opportunity, we have to do it well.”
“We’re not the new kids on the block in terms of luxury trains and rail programs. There is 15- 20 years experience sitting behind the program at Entire Rail Journeys,” McDonnell added.
