It has been billed as the 'Wedding of the Year' that has already spawned countless memorabilia, caused a clamour for lookalike engagement dresses and made waves across the World, but the latest figures from events package consolidator Door2Tour.com controversially reveal that packages for annual events like
Royal Ascot coach trip packages and
Chelsea Flower Show breaks 2011 are outselling the
Royal Wedding tours up to five-fold.
The coach holidays and short breaks consolidator, who is currently selling ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ 1 and 3 day breaks to join the crowds lining The Mall on the day of the Wedding, say that since the coach breaks went on sale last November, sales have not beaten
Wimbledon coach trips or
Cheltenham Gold Cup 2011 coach packages. In fact, despite impressive initial sales and extensive publicity, it features just 7th on the list of most popular events for 2011, behind popular man band Take That’s Progress Live concert (currently in 5th position) and Royal Ascot (currently in 6th position). Royal Wedding tours account for just 8% of all Event sales for this year, compared to 29% for the Chelsea Flower Show. Only events like the
British Grand Prix, Strictly Come Dancing, the X Factor and the
French Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe have sold less to date.
In addition to achieving less sales than annual events, the travel company claims that there are more people travelling both domestically and abroad in the week leading up to the Wedding (commencing 25 April) and over the wedding weekend than there are booked to travel to the Royal Wedding itself. Destinations that customers are choosing to head to instead include
Scotland,
South Africa,
Lake Garda and
Germany’s Rhine Valley.
Kate Glanfield, Web Manager of Door2Tour.com said: “When the Royal Wedding tour packages first went on sale we saw an initial clamour for those wishing to book, and it’s important to point out that our figures don’t necessarily mean that Royal popularity is waning - it just means that people aren’t necessarily choosing to travel to
London to be a part of it. Our customers are predominantly UK based, so the majority will be steering clear of London and opting to watch the spectacular event at home, or will be travelling to London independently on the day to catch a piece of the action.”
The
3 day Royal Wedding tour package offered by Door2Tour.com is priced
from only £139.95 per person and includes coach travel throughout, two nights’ bed and continental breakfast accommodation at a Greater London hotel, a visit to Windsor, a coach transfer to London on the first day of the tour, the services of a tour manager, plus the real highlight: Return coach transfer to The Mall to see the Royal Wedding procession.
Kate added: “It’s interesting to see that even though the Royal Wedding truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, our customers would rather go to the likes of Royal Ascot!”