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Rail tour operator insists older travellers are 'driving the green agenda' amid bookings boom

Domestic
Harry Kemble
13 December 2023

Independent rail tour company Ffestiniog Travel believes older travellers are helping to drive the green agenda following a surge in bookings year-on-year. 

train youth travel backpacker rail pexels-veerasak-piyawatanakul-1170184_Main.jpg (Credit: Veerasak Piyawatanakul / Pexels)

Ffestiniog Travel expected 2023 to be the year where it traded out of the pandemic (Credit: Veerasak Piyawatanakul / Pexels)

The over-50s specialist, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024, reported EU rail tickets sales were up 56% compared to 2022, with a value increase of 31%.


Tailored Rail Tour holiday bookings have also risen by 38% against last year and booking values have spiked 85%. 


Around half of these bookings were European based, however bookings of tours to destinations around the UK and worldwide were also popular. 

General manager Maria Cook said: “We expected 2023 to be the year where we traded out of the pandemic and returned to pre-Covid levels, but bookings have surpassed our expectations.