European road trips

[roadtripper]

(Sorry for a cheeky first post, Mods I am not trying to circumvent any rules around advertising or commercial posting, the company does not yet exist, this is purely research. As an aside IF I was to start such a company and offer say 5% discount to forum members how would I go about advertising on the site in future? Thanks Andrew)

Hi all, this is a little bit of market research.

I am currently looking into the feasibility of starting my own business offering accompanied driving tours round Europe taking in all the most dramatic passes, bridges and gorges. From my own research it would seem that companies offering similar tours are aimed at either supercar owners with deep pockets wanting 5* hotels and gastronomic gala meals or else they just provide a list of hotel destinations and a ferry ticket.

Having organised road trips for groups of friends in the past I figure that a middle ground would be appreciated. So what I would be proposing is an accompnying guide to help with daily route planning, hotel check in, local places of interest etc, etc, stopping in 3 and 4* hotels on a B&B basis. I would not be offering evening meals on the basis that people would have more flexabilty with their time on an evening and would be able to eat according to their tastes and pockets.

I would be offering tours of 7, 8, 10 and 13 nights duration with prices from £795 to £1295 per person based on 2 people sharing and a solo vehicle, including all accommodation, ferries, maps and routes etc.

So any comments and criticisms please, is it something people on here might be interested in booking? Do you think it is well priced? Is there a market for this sector aimed at ordinary car owners in these price brackets?

Thanks for your opinions Andrew

[Jonny87]

Sounds like it could work, but its not my kind of holiday, its too planned out - takes the fun out of it... If I was doing a European road trip I would probably only book the ferries in advance, then just take things as they come. Booking into B&B's, hotels and the like whenever needed.

Personally I would book the ferries, buy a couple of good road atlas, some "rough guides" and "lonely planet guides" then plug in the satnav and let the good times roll! This way you dont have to worry about getting to specific places on specific days for specific accomodation.

Say I wanted to stop somewhere for a couple of days longer than your tour allowed for, or if I needed to rest up for a day cos i was a bit ill or hungover, the whole thing would just fall apart!

[roadtripper]

Sounds like it could work, but its not my kind of holiday, its too planned out - takes the fun out of it... If I was doing a European road trip I would probably only book the ferries in advance, then just take things as they come. Booking into B&B's, hotels and the like whenever needed.

Personally I would book the ferries, buy a couple of good road atlas, some "rough guides" and "lonely planet guides" then plug in the satnav and let the good times roll! This way you dont have to worry about getting to specific places on specific days for specific accomodation.

Say I wanted to stop somewhere for a couple of days longer than your tour allowed for, or if I needed to rest up for a day cos i was a bit ill or hungover, the whole thing would just fall apart!

Thanks for the reply :)

I have done as you suggest on quite a few occasions which led me to the idea, I found that by going on the hop for accommodation (especially as this type of trip can only take place June to September) wasted upto a couple of hours a night just searching out a place to stay in budget.

So say you book in advance then you have to drive between the two (after all the sole purpose is to drive) You know you want to drive up the Stelvio pass, you know you want to drive the Gothard pass so you book hotels between the two, but did you know about the Passo di Gavia (you might find it on google if you know to look but not on any but the largest scale maps. (it is near the stelvio and is much better if you dare to drive it btw) Which leads us to another point (and this as happened to me in the past) You drive up a fantastic road only to find it turns into a 1 way rutted sump breaker around the peak of a mountain. :o

I guess the thing is that unless you (ie potential clients) are told what you are missing then you will never realise it and won't pay the premium for the organisation of it . Catch 22, back to the drawing board, thanks for the ideas :D

[Jonny87]

Thanks for the reply :)

I have done as you suggest on quite a few occasions which led me to the idea, I found that by going on the hop for accommodation (especially as this type of trip can only take place June to September) wasted upto a couple of hours a night just searching out a place to stay in budget.

So say you book in advance then you have to drive between the two (after all the sole purpose is to drive) You know you want to drive up the Stelvio pass, you know you want to drive the Gothard pass so you book hotels between the two, but did you know about the Passo di Gavia (you might find it on google if you know to look but not on any but the largest scale maps. (it is near the stelvio and is much better if you dare to drive it btw) Which leads us to another point (and this as happened to me in the past) You drive up a fantastic road only to find it turns into a 1 way rutted sump breaker around the peak of a mountain. :o

I guess the thing is that unless you (ie potential clients) are told what you are missing then you will never realise it and won't pay the premium for the organisation of it . Catch 22, back to the drawing board, thanks for the ideas :D

What about producing a guide or online resource with all of the best roads/views/drives etc and also a fairly comprehensive listing of well placed budget accomodation? That way people get the freedom and also the knowledge to make their own fairly decent plan.

Thing is that "guided" tours generally attract the retired folk, but they dont like driving very far.

Where as younger folk do like driving alot but they like to make their own way

[roadtripper]

What about producing a guide or online resource with all of the best roads/views/drives etc and also a fairly comprehensive listing of well placed budget accomodation? That way people get the freedom and also the knowledge to make their own fairly decent plan.

Because the idea is to make a profit :P Although a tailor made route planning service was going to be part of what I offer.

Thing is that "guided" tours generally attract the retired folk, but they dont like driving very far.

Where as younger folk do like driving alot but they like to make their own way

Hmm wasn't really thinking of Aunty Mable rallying up the Stelvio, more like a poor mans Gumball without the Ferraris and the 5* hotels