Insight Vacations talks about ‘The Insight Difference’, ME to WE partnership at trade luncheon

Insight Vacations, joined by the Tourist Office of Spain, hosted a trade luncheon at Toronto’s Sassafraz restaurant yesterday to present its 2017 product and highlight not only ‘the Insight Difference’ but to also delve a little deeper into their Luxury Gold brand, clearly identifying each brands’ unique qualities.

Speaking with PAX, Cris David, president of Insight Vacations, spent time emphasizing the differentiation between Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold.

“Luxury Gold was an initiative that we’ve been developing inside the Insight Vacations banner within the luxury space over the last several years, and last year it was launched as a fully-fledged brand in its own right,” said David. “This year we are really consolidating that differentiation – clearly identifying the unique identity and unique stand-alone qualities of each of those brands, and within that emphasizing ‘the Insight Difference’ – the components and the aspects of the Insight Vacations brand that support our premium positioning in the marketplace, which are very clear and easy to define.”

The Insight Difference

“First, and one of the most important, are what we refer to as ‘Signature Experiences’, which are authentic and engaging events where guests meet local people in destination who share their stories, lifestyles and traditions,” continued David.

The other big pillars include group size (maximum 40 guests); ‘Business Class legroom’ on all of their coaches, which offers double the legroom of a regular coach and also features panoramic windows and state of the art sound systems; and quality, central and scenic hotels close to shopping sites, museums and attractions in every city.

“Going along with the theme of authenticity and an engaging experience, the cuisine is a part of that as well, said David. “We feature ‘dine-around’ evenings where guests choose from an outstanding selection of local restaurants and dine in smaller groups in a very authentic setting, in a bistro or a trattoria, as opposed to a hotel dining room. And we also have ‘highlight evenings’… complete with entertainment, regional cuisine and local wine.”

As for Luxury Gold, 2017 is looking to be an especially big year for the brand as it goes worldwide with a significant diversification of the destinations it offers. “Now we’re featuring Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and we’re going further afield in South America,” said David.

Authentic Local Experiences

In keeping with the themes of authenticity and engaging experiences that are already key parts of the Insight Difference, last week Insight Vacations' parent company The Travel Corporation announced a new global partnership with ME to WE, offering immersive volunteer trips in India, Kenya and Ecuador with seven of its brands, including Insight Vacations.

“There’s one Insight itinerary that is combinable with a ME to WE mini-tour in Rajasthan,” mentioned David. “It’s a four-day tour at the Araveli Tented Camp and Cottages, which is the property that ME to WE owns and operates in the mountains of rural Rajasthan – a very beautiful setting. Our guests will be able to add that on to our Imperial Rajasthan tour which ends in Udaipur.”

ME to WE

PAX also had the opportunity to speak with Brett Tollman, The Travel Corporation’s global CEO, who was also at yesterday’s luncheon, about the new ME to WE partnership, which was officially announced at an event later that evening.

“We’ve sponsored [ME to ME] at some of the WE Days from the UK to Los Angeles, we’ve made several donations… [but] more recently, when we met with Craig and Mark Kielburger (the ME to WE founders), we looked at others ways we could help them,” said Tollman. “They mentioned these amazing experiences they have with ME to WE in India, Kenya and Ecuador, and asked if there was more we could do to help.”

Through this new partnership, customers interested in one of these experiences will book their Insight, Trafalgar, Uniworld etc. vacation and then will be put directly in contact with the ME to WE organization who will take over the booking and the details from there. “So it’s two different organizations working together,” said Tollman. “And it’s us giving them the opportunity through our trade partners and the customers to hopefully grow that business and help further grow the incomes and revenues for those local people who are involved with the ME to WE experiences in each of those destinations.”

“I greatly admire the work they do, as is everyone else within The Travel Corporation, so we’re proud and excited to help them in any way we can,” concluded Tollman.

For more information, visit insightvacatons.com.