After 40 years in the industry, the UK-based tour operator will now offer more than 60 itineraries across North America through its Journeyscape collection, which will be available for travel agents to book from 15 July.
“It’s a really natural fit to go to North America,” Stuart Whittington, head of product and marketing at Journey Latin America, told TTG Luxury. “It joins up our continent from south to north. Where you’ve got the Andes, you’ve got the Rockies; where you’ve got jaguars in Pantanal, you’ve got bears In British Columbia.”
Plans to launch a new product had been a long time coming for Journey Latin America, but like many things in the sector, had been stalled by pandemic-related delays. When the opportunity for expansion finally opened up, the team decided they wouldn’t stray too far from their signature formula.
“It’s a natural fit. It joins up our continent from south to north”
“Journeys are what we do well, hence the name ‘Journeyscape’, and this name also frees us up in terms of the destination,” Whittington explains.
The product has also been developed from scratch, to ensure that Journey Latin America can continue to deliver the same standard of service to its customers.
“Instead of diluting one business, we’ve created a department within the business,” Whittington adds. “We’ve built our Journeyscape team up from the ground, with a new sales team, a new product manager, and a dedicated marketing manager.”
Full immersion
Like Journey Latin America, Whittington said Journeyscape will create travel experiences that encourage full immersion in the destination.
“We don’t do ‘fly and flop’,” Whittington says. “We don’t just stay in one place and do a few day trips. We try to get under the skin of the destination between 10 days and three weeks, so we think about the journey experience and what works in that period of time.”
“We try to get under the skin of the destination between 10 days and three weeks”
Examples in the collection include The Real Route 66 Extended, a self-drive itinerary which takes the clients along the original ‘Mother Road’ from Lake Michigan to Santa Monica and Native America Country, a trip led by Native American tour guides with stops in Scottsdale, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon.
There’s also an Alaskan expedition cruise, which offers a different perspective of the Inside Passage; the Newfoundland Explorer, another self-drive itinerary through the scenic Canadian province; and an expedition of bear and whale-watching from Calgary through to Vancouver Island.
Other itineraries set to be popular include the Deep South, which spotlights musical birthplaces like Memphis and New Orleans, and the East Coast, with stops in Gettysburg, known for its Civil War history, as well as Manhattan and Niagara Falls.
Trade engagement
Whittington said Journeyscape was keen to build relationships with the trade, having established a steady network of suppliers and agents through Journey Latin America over the past four decades.
“We already work very closely with Travel Counsellors, for example, and we have super relationships with Aito,” he said. “The support we offer our travel agents is our expertise. We always talk people through the product and give them every support to win that sale.”
He added the Journeyscape website would be a ‘great resource’, thanks to a digital team that has ‘worked hard over the last year to ensure really detailed content’.
Journeyscape is also offering the first 10 travel agents who book a holiday the chance to win a case of premium Californian wine. Bookings must be worth at least £2,000 per person and confirmed by 31 December 2024.
