Salsaga Blog

UTRECHT, Netherlands, April 3 /PRNewswire/ — - Eurail One-Country Passes Prove to be a Great Success The Eurail Group, owner of the popular Eurail Pass for European railtravel, has announced a 5ACIORFIPROCENTE increase in passenger numbers for 2007,notwithstanding forecasts of a lukewarm year for the travel industry.Passenger numbers exceeded 468,000 for the year, setting a new record sincesales began nearly fifty years ago. Changing travel behavior has impacted Eurail’s sales. Overseas visitorsare becoming more sophisticated, and their desire to visit as much of Europeas possible has been replaced by a wish to explore just one or two selecteddestinations. Eurail has been very active in adapting its product range tomeet these customers’ expectations, resulting in booming sales of one- andtwo-country passes. With the addition of the very popular Eurail Italy Passin 2007, sales of single country passes have sky-rocketed by nearly 500ACIORFIPROCENTE andnow account for 16ACIORFIPROCENTE of all Eurail’s sales (compared to a mere 3ACIORFIPROCENTE in 2006). This shift in buying behavior and the subsequent adaptation of the EurailGroup’s sales strategy has kept revenues stable at 119 million euros.Nevertheless, Eurail’s classic products, the Eurail Global Pass (covering 20countries) and the Eurail Select Pass (valid in any three, four or fiveadjoining countries) continue to remain popular, accounting for 62ACIORFIPROCENTE ofEurail’s sales. While continued growth is anticipated, the Eurail Group remains cautious.Today’s global travel and tourism market faces many challenges including theeconomic downturn in the United States, Eurail’s key market with over 50ACIORFIPROCENTE ofthe market share. This, coupled with the depreciating dollar and the factthat the US is in an election year, means that more modest passenger growth,of around 3ACIORFIPROCENTE, is expected for 2008. In order to ensure that its products continue to remain attractive andavailable to customers worldwide, the Eurail Group is making efforts tofurther expand its product range and widen its distribution network. Thisyear has seen the addition of seven brand new pass offerings and two newcountries added to the Eurail Global Pass, as well as the introduction ofsales via a new global sales agent, STA Travel. The Eurail Group offers a wide range of passes from single countryoptions to the classic Eurail Global Pass, valid in 20 countries. For moreinformation about the Eurail Group, go to http://EurailGroup.com. EurailPasses are currently available from the direct sales website,http://Eurail.com, and all sales agents worldwide; ACP Rail International(http://eurail-acprail.com); Flight Centre (http://flightcentre.com);http://OctopusTravel.com; Rail Europe (North America: http://raileurope.com,rest of the world: http://raileurope.fr), and STA Travel (http://statravel.com). For More Information: Eurail Group corporate website and press room: http://eurailgroup.com Eurail photo library: http://eurail.informationstore.net/Eurail Group G.I.E.

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