Rocky Mountaineer is changing its schedule starting in April, bringing a steadier flow of tourists through Kamloops.
James Terry, the rail tour company’s executive vice-president and chief operations officer, will discuss the change this evening in a presentation to the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association’s AGM. The meeting takes place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Plaza Heritage Hotel, 405 Victoria St. Read the full story
Look out to the left, the captain said, and you can see killer whales. Now that’s not the kind of invitation you expect when you’re on a car ferry, especially if you are more used to the hop between Dover and Calais, when there is normally nothing to see… except other ferries.
But this was Canada and I was on a 90-minute crossing from Swartz Bay near Victoria on Vancouver Island to Tsawwassen, about 15 miles south of the city of Vancouver on the Canadian mainland.
For me, the sight of whales is one of those things that always thrill me to my boots (like the sudden and occasional views of Concorde we used to get). But, clearly, they are no big deal to Canadians, since few of my fellow passengers bothered to stir themselves from their breakfasts to catch a glimpse of the passing pod.
People are just used to things being on an epic scale here, and not just the wildlife. Vancouver Island, for example, may look like a dot on the map - inviting comparisons with the Isle of Wight - yet it is nearly 300 miles long and some 50 miles broad at its widest point.
Standing out on deck, gazing east, I strained for my first sight of the Rockies. On the horizon is what looks like a sweep of steepling peaks but as you approach, these turn out to be modest foothills. Beyond lurk the real mountains. So, even on these first tentative steps towards the country’s heart, you begin to grasp that this is a place created on a vast scale. It’s the world’s second biggest country, roughly 36 times the size of Britain, but is home to 33million people - half the UK’s population.
I had arrived in Canada via the ‘back door’ after taking another ferry, the high-speed service from Seattle to Victoria. One minute I was in fast-paced America - Seattle is home to Starbucks, Boeing and Microsoft - the next, I was in Victoria, taking the five-minute walk from the sedate ferry terminal to the even more sedate Empress Hotel.
It’s a journey of just a couple of hours up from the US, but Canada is light years apart from the States in most respects. Victoria, the state capital of British Columbia, feels more like Torquay. Actually, given the ever-present Scottish heritage that surrounds you in Canada, you are reminded more of, say, Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
In America, you never feel able to drop your guard but in Canada I felt instantly as if I had never left home.
At the excellent Empress Hotel, for example, they serve a regular lunchtime curry buffet as fine as anything you can find on a British high street. And at any time of day you can always be sure of a real cup of tea.
The Empress Hotel, by the way, provides a worthy introduction to the chain of magnificent ‘railway hotels’ - now under the Fairmont banner - that stretches right across Canada. Like the country itself, these hotels are built on a grand scale in a style described as ‘chateau-esque’.
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By Frank Barrett, Mail Online, >>> continue reading
It’s full-steam-ahead for Rocky Mountaineer Vacations (RMV), despite the tough times facing the tourism industry.
With only a month to go before the first trains start rolling through the River City, the rail-tour company is optimistic this will be a successful season.
However, RMV acknowledged the global economic crunch has affected the company’s early bookings.
Hubert Wat, RMV’s vice-president of marketing, pointed out it’s too early in the booking season to know exactly where numbers are at, but, in speaking with partners in the industry, he said the drop could be anywhere from five per cent to 50 per cent.
“We’re certainly trying to measure what kind of impact the recession is going to play in the mindset as we move into the spring season,” Wat told KTW.
“We’ll have a better idea once we get a lot of our bookings in just prior to the season.”
RMV, which is entering its 20th season, offers three rail routes for travellers, two of which make overnight stops in Kamloops.
The company completed the 2008 season with flat growth.
Despite the gloomy projections, RMV said it has no plans to make any cuts to its core product.
It’s a far cry from the erroneous , that surfaced in December, suggesting the company was headed for receivership.
Instead, Wat said RMV is being proactive, ramping up its marketing budget, which will focus on attracting short-haul customers from Canada and the U.S.
And Kamloops remains a big part of RMV’s plans.
In an effort to enhance its entertainment experience, RMV has a new show this season, Rhythm on the Rails, which will be performed during its stops in Kamloops.
The company is already looking forward to 2010, which could include staggered departure times — instead of the current three overnight stays per week in Kamloops, the number could jump to six per week.
“We’re actually looking to see how we can enhance even more business generation into Kamloops,” Wat said.
The company also spent millions investing in its rail yard in Kamloops, with $1 million going into a new locomotive pit, while the city spent $300,000 to pave the Lorne Street parking lot where RMV unloads its passengers.
Source Link: By Jeremy Deutsch, Kamloops This Week
ADVENTURE World has just released a “Spring Bonus Offer” from Rocky Mountaineer, where you receive a $265 credit per adult when you book a five nights or more “Goldleaf Service” package.
The credit can be used on a range of product from Rocky Mountaineer including pre and post package accommodation, sight seeing tours, car rental, meal plans and Whistler Mountaineer day trips.
An example of a tour that qualifies from the offer is the six day “Canadian Rockies Highlights” from $2999 per person twin share. This tour begins in Vancouver and travels through Kamloops, Banff, Lake Louise with the journey finishing in Calgary.
The package includes two days aboard the Rocky Mountaineer, five nights hotel accommodation, some meals, sightseeing such as glacier helicopter tour, ranch tours, national parks pass, fuel surcharge and luggage handling fees.
The offer is valid for new bookings made before March 16, for travel from April 15 to 25 and conditions apply.
Source Link: Travel Blackboard
Source Link: by Jeremy Deutsch Kamloops This Week
Rumours of the demise of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations (RMV) are absolutely untrue, according to officials with the company.
Speculation began to swirl earlier this week that the rail tour was in receivership due to the economic slowdown.
“There is absolutely no foundation for that rumour,” said Ian Robertson, executive director of corporate communications for RMV.
“It’s quite unfortunate this rumour is being circulated.”
Robertson has been contacted by various media outlets and another tour operator who had also heard the company was in trouble.
He said he’s not sure where or how the rumour originated, noting RMV is working to find the source.
RMV, which just finished its 19th season, offers three rail routes for travellers, two of which make overnight stops in Kamloops.
The company also spent millions investing in its rail yard in Kamloops, with $1 million being directed to a new locomotive pit, while the city spent $300,000 to pave the Lorne Street parking lot where RMV unloads its passengers.
Robertson said RMV completed the 2008 season with flat growth, but maintained that, given the tough economic times the tourism industry is facing, “it’s not bad at all.”
While the company hasn’t gone off the rails, RMV is expecting to see a slower season in 2009.
Robertson noted RMV is in the middle of its booking cycle for the oversees market and is experiencing slow sales in the Australian and British markets.
“It does look like we’re going to have a challenging year, but so is everyone in the industry,” Robertson said.
In an effort to counter the challenge, RMV is investing in its marketing and sales team to aggressively promote the tour as part of its long-term strategic plan for growth.
Source Link: e-Travel Blackboard
This holiday season, wrap up a Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ rail adventure and put it under the tree for your family or someone special! More than ever before people are giving the gift of a unique rail journey onboard either the acclaimed Rocky Mountaineer train. A gift that never gets re-used, re-gifted or recycled, a Rocky Mountaineer rail vacation will simply become a lifetime of wonderful memories.
Travellers who book their vacation from now until January 15, 2009, can take advantage of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ Early Booking Bonus, making the gift even more affordable and pleasurable. When a minimum six-night Rocky Mountaineer vacation package in GoldLeaf Service is booked, guests also receive a free upgrade to a Fairmont Room at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in applicable destinations.
The perfect Christmas gift is the Canadian Rockies Escape package, a seven night, eight day journey onboard two spectacular rail routes through the Canadian Rockies. Departing from the coastal city of Vancouver, British Columbia, guests take pleasure in enjoying the legendary two-day, all daylight journey of the Rocky Mountaineer train on the Yellowhead Route to Jasper, with an overnight stop in Kamloops, British Columbia. Also offering a motorcoach tour of Jasper and nearby Maligne Canyon, Pyramid and Patricia Lakes, the Canadian Rockies Escape adds an Ice Explorer ride to the excitement together with a full day motorcoach excursion of the Icefields Parkway – a scenic mountain highway that snakes and climbs through the high mountain passes from Jasper to Lake Louise. After enjoying leisurely time and a guided lakeside stroll at Lake Louise, guests then take delight in viewing Yoho National Park - which cradles Emerald Lake and Lake O’Hara’s turquoise waters, thundering Takakkaw Falls and the wild and fast-flowing Kicking Horse River – before embarking on a half-day tour of the mountain resort town of Banff and a complimentary gondola ride to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, which offers sweeping views of the town and surrounding scenery.
Returning to Vancouver along the Kicking Horse Route onboard the Rocky Mountaineer train, guests once again enjoy the thrill of viewing the ever-changing panoramas of glacier fed lakes, lush valleys, dense emerald forests and the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies on another superb two day, all daylight journey, with an overnight stay in Kamloops.
Guests also enjoy superb bi-regional cuisine prepared fresh by talented onboard chefs as the picture-perfect scenery rolls on by. The best view is in the luxury of Rocky Mountaineer GoldLeaf Service, complete with bi-level glass dome coaches, panoramic views, delicious cuisine and onboard commentary of the region.
Along with four spectacular days onboard the Rocky Mountaineer on two different routes as well as scenic excursions along the Icefields Parkway and Jasper to Lake Louise, the Canadian Rockies Escape package includes seven nights accommodations, rail station transfers in Vancouver, Kamloops, Jasper and Banff, complimentary luggage handling and a National Parks Pass, four sumptuous breakfasts and lunches onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, and an Exclusive Attractions Pass, which includes complimentary admission to Vancouver Lookout, a Vancouver ‘Hop-On, Hop-Off’ attractions loop tour, the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, the Whyte Museum and Upper Hot Springs in Banff, the Jasper Tramway (including transportation to/from the gondola and Calgary Tower - with its observation deck that offers dramatic views of the distant Canadian Rockies and the stark plains of the Canadian Prairies.
Commencing May 2, 2009, eastbound from Vancouver to Jasper and Banff, until October 10, 2009, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ Canadian Rockies Escape package is priced from AUD $2.794.00 in RedLeaf Service and AUD $5,182.00 in GoldLeaf Service, based on double occupancy. Prices are also subject to 3% Canadian GST.
The Early Booking Bonus is applicable from now until January 16, 2009. Other spectacular vacation package options are also available however the offer is not available in conjunction with any other promotion. For additional information or to book a Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ package, contact your travel professional or visit the website at www.rockymountaineer.com
Rocky Mountaineer Vacations offers unique Canadian vacation packages and four spectacular rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta. Best known for the world-acclaimed Rocky Mountaineer train, a two-day, all daylight rail journey through Canada’s West and the Canadian Rockies, the company also offers trips onboard the Whistler Mountaineer train, a daily three-hour experience between North Vancouver and Whistler, BC. Since its inception in 1990, the company has grown to be the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America and welcomed its one millionth guest in 2008. In 2007, RMV was honoured with the World Travel Award as “World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” for the third consecutive year and named by National Geographic as one of the World’s Greatest Trips.
