CIE Tours International announces strong growth from US market
CIE Tours International, one of the largest coach tour operators from North America to the UK, saw a 10% rise in UK tour bookings in 2016.
The Irish operator brought 14,000 visitors to the UK last year. It took them to 175 visitor attractions and 75 hotels, and paid £10m to its UK suppliers, including around 150,000 bed nights.
Already its 2017 sales are up 10% on the same period in 2016.
Thanks to the strong performance, CIE has launched a range of winter holidays in Britain, including a new ‘getaway to Edinburgh’ tour and a New Year’s Hogmanay trip.
Elizabeth Crabill, CEO, says: “We need to work hard to encourage our main market, US travellers, to holiday outside of the US, so the quality of the experience in the UK has to be consistently high.
“The level of customer satisfaction achieved by our suppliers plays a vital role in the growth we are experiencing.”
The Company’s annual Awards of Excellence lunch took place on 25 April at Hotel du Vin Devonshire in Glasgow. In total 56 CIE Awards were given, based on feedback from 14,000 customers.
CIE Tours International has brought more than 3m visitors from North America to tour Ireland over its history.
In recent years it has expanded to include Scotland and the rest of the UK. The company introduced three new tour itineraries in 2016, with two tours featuring the UK only, and two new Scottish tours are planned for 2018.
