Chinese market targeted by Eurail Pass

Every year, the number of Asians traveling through Europe with a Eurail Pass continues to grow, and the number of Chinese travelers increased by a staggering 25 percent in 2008. The Eurail Group GIE is capitalizing on this and swiftly expanding by inviting the Chinese market to discover the European continent by train. Eurail launched a new marketing campaign today starting with two Travel Trade seminars in Beijing and Shanghai on November 23 & 24, 2009.

According to Zhu Shanzhong, from the China National Tourism Administration, “China remains Asia’s largest source of outbound tourism and exceeds the average world level.” Eurail supports this trend by further endorsing the Eurail Pass sales in China. For this purpose, representatives and journalists from the Chinese Travel Trade industry will participate in the Eurail marketing seminars in Beijing and Shanghai to further educate and inform the Chinese market about the advantages of traveling through Europe by train.

During 2009, Eurail Group celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in the five decades since 1959 (when only one type of pass was available), Eurail has become the market leader in European rail passes. From humble beginnings when little more than 5,000 passes were sold to overseas travelers in their first year, the idea of a pre-paid pass allowing unlimited mileage across the European continent has become a huge success story. In fact, a staggering 430,000 international Eurail Pass holders trekked across Europe in 2008.

Ever growing concerns about climate issues coupled with recent major European rail investments means that traveling the continent by rail is a cleaner, less expensive, and more enjoyable choice. With 160,000 miles of track in today’s European railway system covered by Eurail Passes, many major towns and villages are connected and offer excellent international connections.

The jointly promoted student offer with ISIC (the International Student Identity Card Association), makes traveling with a Eurail Pass even more appealing to the youth. Nevertheless, the Eurail Group offers a broad product range to attract all age groups by accommodating most budgets and, the brand name continues to be universally appealing with pass sales transcending across the globe.

Eurail Group will further continue to boost the development and expansion of Eurail Pass sales in the Chinese market during 2010 via the strong distribution network. “China is one of the most important new markets for Eurail and shows huge potential,” said Ana Dias e Seixas, Eurail Group’s marketing director. “We would like to embrace this opportunity to highlight the many advantages of the Eurail products to more Chinese customers. In the coming year, we will concentrate on offering additional customer benefits to make the product range more attractive.”