Latest news with #RajMistry
TTG
13 hours ago
- Business
- TTG
Five facts you (probably) don't know about Railbookers
From short breaks to luxurious multi-centre adventures, Railbookers offers seamless rail holidays from any UK station, but there's more to the operator than you might think. Abigail Healy Travel writer If you think of Railbookers, it might be simple rail trips across Europe that immediately come to mind, but there is much more to the operator than meets the eye. A one-stop shop for travel agents, Railbookers' packages include hotels, sightseeing, transfers, flights, and of course, rail travel. Now with a two-strong trade team to support your marketing and bookings – the world really is your rail-loving clients' oyster. To ensure you are maximising on everything the operator has to offer, we've rounded up five facts that you may not know. Plus, you can also enter to win a £50 voucher of your choice – with five up for grabs – when you enter our new competition with Railbookers! 1. You can package holidays worldwide It's not just iconic rail journeys on offer, Railbookers sells independent tailormade holidays throughout the world. The operator's new head of trade sales and development, Raj Mistry says: 'Our top selling destinations for 2025 include Switzerland and Italy. These are the most popular ones that we always have but then we've had Norway and Scandinavia – which is phenomenal in terms of what it's offering – Portugal and Canada too. As you may appreciate, we are seeing a number of clients booking a lot later, so we can do last-minute bookings as well as booking out as far as 2027.' 2. You can book more than rail travel Railbookers offers much more than simple short journeys or experiences. It can package anything from a short stay or a multi-centre holiday to a coast to coast journey or a luxury trip of a lifetime. Mistry asserts: 'Think of us as a tour operator offering hotels, flights, sightseeing, with transfers and rail being the main component of the holiday.' What's more it can add rail from the UK travelling into continental Europe to ensure your customer's journey starts smoothly and provides an option for clients who don't want to fly. Mistry adds: 'What really makes the holiday is the experience on the ground. The sightseeing, which can be very immersive, can be either part of a group or individual and private to the client.' 3. You can book high-end holidays If you think of simple rail journeys in Europe, luxury travel may not immediately come to mind. However, alongside Railbookers' relationships with the national rail companies, it also features luxury rail operators, hotels and experiences. Customers might want to combine the Swiss railways with the Bernina and Glacier Express for example, or VIA Rail in Canada with the Rocky Mountaineer. In India they can pair the Indian railways with The Maharajas' Express or, if they are traveling in Italy, you can book Trenitalia with the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. All these classic rail journeys can be packaged up with a great range of properties across the globe, with luxury options such as Fairmont, Intercontinental and Kimpton hotels. 4. You can get personal support from the UK trade team There is plenty of support for agents in the UK. Railbookers has recently added two new business development roles, Mistry and key account manager, Levi Barrett. The pair are on hand to support agents and are offering bespoke training to all of their travel partners. Mistry says: 'We're offering a lot of virtual training and the opportunity to meet at conferences as well. We are also seeing a number of our travel partners looking at doing virtual consumer events.' 5. You can access resources in an online portal Railbookers' travel agent portal is a brilliant resource if you are keen to find out more. It has a wealth of material including the Travel Agent Reference Card – a simple guide that agents can download and use as a day-to-day reference for all the destinations that Railbookers covers. There are also downloadable flyers and brochures for the likes of Switzerland, Italy, Australia, Canada, and customisable flyers if you want to feature specific itineraries too. Access to the portal is via the Railbookers' website at
TTG
09-06-2025
- Business
- TTG
Railbookers' new trade team, agent tools and incredible portfolio In The Spotlight
Video transcript With Railbookers' head of trade sales and development – UK, Raj Mistry and TTG Media's Charlotte Cullinan. Charlotte: Welcome to our In The Spotlight video with Railbookers. Raj, let's start by talking about the trips and destinations that are proven popular for departures this year, and tell us how far in advance – or even last-minute – agents can book with you. Raj: Thank you so much for having me on here with yourself, and TTG as well. So I think if you look at some of our top-selling destinations that we have this year for 2025, we have the likes of Switzerland, we have Italy. These are our most popular ones that we always have. But then we've had Norway, and Scandinavia – it's phenomenal in terms of what it's offering. Portugal and then Canada, these are our top five selling areas at the moment. But globally, we're offering lovely independent tailormade holidays throughout the globe. And as you can appreciate, we are seeing a number of clients booking a lot later, so we can do last-minute bookings as well as booking out as far as 2027, so two years out. Charlotte: Fabulous. Thank you. And give us an idea of what a Railbookers holiday looks like. Raj: Think of us as a tour operator. We include anything that a tour operator offers. So think of us offering hotels, your flights, your sightseeing, with transfers and rail being the main component of the holiday. This is the key thing that we're doing. So when you think of Railbookers, it's anything that a customer wants, in a tailormade itinerary. So whether it be a short stay or a multi-centre holiday, going coast-to-coast journeys, or a luxury trip of a lifetime along some of the iconic routes around the world, this is what we do. We can also add rail. This is quite an important part for those clients who don't want to fly. We can add rail from the UK travelling into continental Europe. We can add rail from the UK stations as well, which is quite exciting. So it makes that convenience of a trip and again, especially for those clients who don't want to fly. Charlotte: Thank you. And not all agents will be aware of everything they can do with Railbookers, including your luxury products, so tell us what's available across your portfolio. Raj: So again, when you look at our what we do, our relationships include a lot of the national rail companies in Europe, in North America and Canada. So when you're considering the wide range of holidays that we include, they do include luxury rail journeys, hotels and companies that have some world-leading portfolios. Just giving you a few examples here. So you've got customers that may want to combine something like your Swiss railways with the Bernina and Glacier Express, VIA Rail in Canada with the Rocky Mountaineer, the Indian railways with The Maharajas' Express. Or if you're traveling in Italy, you've got Trenitalia in Italy with the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. These are all classic rail journeys, but then we combine those with our great range of properties across the globe, ranging from say, Mecure, Holiday Inns, Hiltons, through to luxury brands like Fairmont, Intercontinental and Kimpton hotels. And then the key thing – what makes the holiday – is the experiences on the ground. So the sightseeing, which can be very immersive, and they can be either part of group, or they can be individual and private to the client. Charlotte: Thank you. And tell us how you're supporting agents. Raj: There's two in our team. We've got Levi, who's our key account manager, and myself, who's heading up the trade team. We're here to support all of our agent partners and continue to grow successful partnerships Levi and I, providing some very bespoke training to each of our travel partners, depending on what they are looking for in terms of training and understanding of our brand, our product depth and the offering that we offer. We're offering a lot of virtual training. We're offering the opportunity to meet at conferences and things like that as well. So really an opportunity to do that. But also, we are seeing a number of our travel partners looking at doing virtual consumer events as well. So these are things that we can offer for a lot of the agent partners. Charlotte: Thank you. And finally, I know you have a really useful travel agent toolbox. What will agents find in that and how can they access it? Raj: So our travel agent portal has a wealth of downloadable material. So we have what we call our Travel Agent Reference Card. This is a very simple guide that agents can take, they can download and use it as a day-to-day reference for all destinations that we cover. But then we have downloadable flyers and brochures for the likes of Switzerland, Italy, Australia, Canada, and customisable flyers as well. So if they want to do particular itineraries you'll see those in their social media assets and a lot more. All they need to do is go into the top right-hand side of our website, click on the little figure and on there, just pop in there their Abta number and the email address and they'll be able to access all that information.
