Spring in Provence

Spring in Provence

Ca y est, spring has arrived! We've had the chance of having a nice weather in March with a lot of sun. April started with a few clouds and some rain, but we can't complain! Spring is my favorite season for several reasons. First, the landscapes change and the colors are beautiful. Fields are green and filled with yellow flowers, fruit trees are in bloom and add shades of white and pink. It's incredible! Another reason I love the spring is because it's the beginning of the fruit season! There is a fruit producer in the small village I live in, and they have finally opened for the season. And much to my delight the first Gariguettes have arrived! This variety of strawberry is mostly found in southern France as it's a delicate fruit that doesn't support transportation very well. To me it's the best strawberries. They have so much taste that you can eat them without anything on it, no sugar or cream!


The strawberries are the first fruit of the season, but the producer explained to me that by mid-May, they should have the first melons. They'll also have tomatoes, potatoes, zucchinis and aubergines. In June, we'll have the first peaches and apricots as well.


For all of you traveling either on our biking or hiking tours, you'll see small fruit stands along the road. This is the best place where you can buy fruits as they come directly from the producer! Prices are reasonable (not really more expensive than in the supermarket, but the quality is so much better!) and I strongly recommend to stop at least once! This is one true French experience!


Sent by Laura in our Southern France office

Tour de France - French Riviera

So, the Tour starts in Monaco this year which is very unique in the history of the tour. The Principalite of Monaco is an independent country but it might as well be France. Situated just next to Nice on the Cote d'Azur, this is the perfect start for the tour we are offering to enjoy some of the best southern France countryside and the greatest bicycle race in the world!

To know more about the opening events and activities for the race, visit this page of the Tour's website: http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/COURSE/us/grand_depart_2009.html

We are offering a chance to ride along the French Riviera and then continue on to the southern beaches of Provence to see the all important Team Time Trial. Among all the hard core cycling tours we offer at the Tour, this trip is not meant to be a hard core trip. In fact, it is a moderate trip that is open to good cyclists who love to follow the race but would also like to enjoy some Provence countryside and Mediterranean beaches. There is no heavy climbing and the ride distances are moderate with options to go long for those who need more miles.

To see full details about this trip, please see our website at http://www.cyclingclassics.com/grand_tour01.php

Last Minute Booking - The Way of the Future?

Hotels and airlines are willing to undercut themselves and their advance planning customers in order to fill unsold space. The trend has been around for a while, but it seemed like only a lucky few or those who were very flexible could get a last minute deal in the past. For example, being single gives you a whole lot of flexibility that a family of 4 may not have. According to the Wall Street Journal today, this last minute trend may be something of the new norm.

Of course new norms change all the time. The examples cited in the article show that currently this does pay off. I think this can only work with airlines and individual hotel bookings, however the cruise industry seems to be doing the same thing. Well, I personally don't care much about what the cruise industry is doing and frankly all these 'travel products' have become commodities. My concern is how this mentality transfers over into the tour business.

As a company that sells mostly self-guided trips, we can handle it. In fact, we can prosper from it where I am sure many guided/group tour programs with fixed departure dates cannot. We will happily take bookings at the last minute and organize the whole tour to start any date; that is our offer anyway, so if more people go to booking last minute then we can be there for them. How can a group departure do that?

The majority of people who book 'tours' are booking group, guided programs with fixed departure dates. These trips are organized by companies that have to lock up hotel rooms and services very far in advance. Often the hotels don't like to tie up rooms without some guarantees and so comes the non-refundable deposits, etc. These tours need early bookings to assure departures and hold space. If minimum numbers are not met far enough in advance, a tour company has to decide to either cancel the space to avoid lost non-refundable deposits to the hotels, or raise prices on those who book in advance to keep the trip. The latter is almost never the solution. These same hotels that would discount to last minute travelers booking direct impose higher restrictions and standards on the tour companies that market their product and bring them groups.

So, I would expect to see more group tours with fixed departure dates to start canceling. This may leave some people who booked in advance out in the cold - with airline tickets and no tour. We have been able to help many of these people in the past who are willing to go to a self guided trip, but for those who aren't - well, tough luck. Therefore, who wants to book a guided group tour with fixed departure date in advance??

Tour companies, including ourselves, are pushing hotels and other service providers to be more flexible in their terms, but when the demand for direct bookings is so strong (and more profitable to the hotel), why should they? This could mean quite some changes for the tour industry.

L