2012 bookings are booming for Albatross Tours, as Australian travellers seeking an authentic European experience forego generic tours in favour of a more genuinely fulfilling experience with the European specialists.

Albatross Tours’ managing director, Euan Landsborough is one of Australia’s most authoritative resources on European travel, allowing him to design more culturally rich, leisurely paced tours through Europe’s most vibrant and evocative regions - exclusively for Australian and New Zealand travellers.

Landsborough attributes Albatross’ success to their positioning as the European specialists, which affords him a distinct advantage when it comes to creating unforgettable tours of Europe.

“We aren’t juggling tours all over the world; we only focus on Europe and we only offer our escorted tours to residents of Australia and New Zealand – so it’s very personalised and tailored to the way we like to travel,” he said.

Landsborough said he receives overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers on Albatross’ travel industry benchmark policies.

“We double sight-seeing time by travelling fewer kilometres per day, allowing two to five nights in each location so that travellers can relax and enjoy destinations at their own leisure.

“We also operate with smaller groups, with a maximum of 30 people on our summer tours and only 42 on our ANZAC and Christmas tours, and unlike larger companies, we offer guaranteed group departures.”

“Another factor that sets Albatross apart is that we’re genuinely inclusive; excursions, special visits, sightseeing tours, feature dinners, and even driver/tour guide tips are all included in the price.”

Albatross Tours’ passenger Jean Brown felt the benefits of the Albatross difference firsthand, on her recent tour of Italy with the award-winning company.

“I’ve travelled independently, and my Albatross tour is by far the best travelling experience I’ve had. We couldn’t have done it anywhere near as well on our own.

“The way the tours are designed maximises sight-seeing and you get a deep appreciation for each destination, rather than a chaotic whirl through.

“Other tours seem to be very rushed, and can leave you feeling like you’ve missed out on things, but with Albatross I felt l had a chance to stop and ‘smell the roses’ in each destination. I also loved that the hotels were all beautiful and had so much character. Albatross chooses hotels that are really true to the cultural heritage of the destination.

“It was also comforting to know that I wasn’t going to be charged additional costs for extras such as excursions and meals like some other tour companies who sell these as ‘options’ – Albatross was not only the best touring experience, but also the best value for money.”

Australian and New Zealand travellers keen for a travel experience with the European experts can book with Albatross now for a 2012 summer tour.

If you can’t wait until then, Albatross still has limited spaces on their famous European White Christmas tours.