PAPER BARRIERS T( CONTINEN TOURS
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IN the periods since 1945 that have most nearly approached peace, the popularity of Continental coach tours has increased and operators' business has correspondingly brightened. In 1948, 180 coaches were taken across the Channel by British Railways' vessels In 1949, this total doubled, whilst bookings for 600 vehicles were made for 1950 by some 20 operators
The success of the 1949 season not only encouraged established companies to plan wider activities for 1950, but also attracted a number of new entrants. This explains the increase in Channel-crossing figures. These. howe‘er, bear false witness to the real business trend, which more accurately follows the temperature graph of the cold war.
The Berlin air-lift episode in 1948 affected business adversely, but the repercussions of this year's Korean irruption were much worse and were slightly aggravated by the political disturbances in Belgium. After the year had started well with an encouraging number of advance reservations, about 200 tours had to be called off completely when cancellations began to come in, whilst many coaches went abroad with scarcely sufficient numbers of passengers aboard to produce a profitable revenue One operator's average loading fell to 17 seats
per tour, compared with 20 in the previous season, whilst some companies suffered a 25-per-cent. drop in turnover.
Agents' commissions reduce operators' profits, and if most seats be booked indirectly, little return is left The charge for a tour is assessed by one company on the basis of having 14 seats of a 21,-seater coach filled on long tours and 16 on short.
The clientele for this type of holiday is naturall■restricted by price. As a result of its shrinkage because of untoward world events, coupled with the increase in the number of operators, competition intensified thi5 year. To some of the older-established operators engaging solely in Continental tours: the fresh competition from companies with substantial home-tour
business smacks of unfairness. This resentment, however, does not seem widespread, the established operators relying on their longer experience to enable them to hold their own.
Continental tourists may be divided into approximately two classes: The few who regularly take a tour each year—businessmen, retired officers, lawyers—and the many—mostly newly retired middle-class folk—for whom the Continental trip is the event of a lifetime on which they decide to spend some of their savings, Neither class, particularly the first, takes easily to any ottempt to engender a party spiKit on a coach tour. In fact. the staunch British dread of the communal Prejudiced coaching holidays for a long time. Therefoe, most operators, especially those seeking the patronage of the regular tourists, do everything possible to promote the comfort and satisfy the tastes of individuals, the degree of insularity obtainable by a passenger according with the price he pays, as in most things. The party conception also is not popular with hotel proprietors..
The price of accommodation in Continental hotels forbids any endeavour to make coach tours abroad more popular in appeal. This Holy Year, Italian
hoteliers made hay with the pilgrimage to Rome, some of the accommodation charges rising to about £4 a day. The standards of most hotels are good and are improving, praise being mostly for the Swiss
Paris hotels have been described as indifferent and often crowded, whilst those in Northern France and Spain have been called bad. The selection of hotels which offer the best service at the most reasonable price is often difficult. The enforced abandonment of tours by some operators annoyed hoteliers. Some natural prejudice was thereby caused which redounded against operators as a whole.
Payment for hotel accommodation and incidental costs abroad has to come out of travellers' overseas spending allowances Authorization for operators to 69
do this is obtained through a V-form, which is issued by the passenger's bank and subsequently ratified by the Bank of England. On a 14-day tour advertised at £55, £30 may be needed for overseai costs. The passenger authorizes the operator to abstract this amount from his tourist allowance of £50 (this has recently been increased to £100 for adults). The remainder of the cost of the tour is paid for in the usual manner by cheque, a deposit being required in most cases.
Most of the difficulties facing British operators concern money—its " tightness " at home, its limitation for spending abroad, and the varying favourability of the exchange rates (themselves fluctuating factors) from one country to another. Austrian, and Scandinavian exchange rates encourage tourists, whilst German and Belgian, for instance, do not.
Compared with pre-war conditions, the operator's work to-day is immeasurably more complicated. Europe has one curtain of iron but several of paper, and the need for obtaining visas, passes, permits, and soon, puts operators at the -nercy of the bureaucratic machinery of :nany countries. A reply from the Spanish authorities, for instance, may not reasonably be expected in less than three months.
The ordinary British passport suffices. for entry into most countries, but military permits are required from the Allied High Commission for entry into Western Germany and Austria Dominion subjects "require special visas for some countries. All British and Dominion subjects need one for Spain, now readily obtainable from the Spanish authorities in London. Besides the intricacies connected with passports, there are those concerning vehicle' carnets, entry permits, feuilles de route, and so forth. "Form-filling in a dozen languages" is how one operator described his work to me.
Switzerland enjoys high popularity among coach tourists, so much, in fact, that some bookings are said to have been refused in 1949 because of lack of currency. Swiss hotels, however, fared rather badly this year, because devaluation of the pound did not act in favour of British tourists. Fiscal regulations regarding Scandinavia are comparatively free. Because these countries attract fewer tourists, the Treasury can afford to allow each visitor to take £250 for personal spending without any official dispensation. If the normal tourist allowance should be needed, it may be applied for as well. This relaxation has had the effect of increasing Scandinavia's appeal.
The Riviera and the Dolomites and Venice are also favourite spots. To some extent, public prejudice reacts against the popularity of Germany, but, in any case, the wide areas of devastation there do not form any strong attraction. The Black Forest, however, has some fine scenery. Tours to the Low Countries are well favoured, as they are usually shorter and lower in price. Tours to Spain are difficult to organize because of that country's manana attitude, also because the import of spares is prohibited. Austria had many visitors for the 0 Oberammergau Passion Play this year, and Italy for the Holy Year 'pilgrimage.
Operators have to pay-extremely careful attention to the type of man they select for the job of courier. Not only must he be a good guide, linguist and mixer, but competent to deal diplomatically with possible matters of contention that may arise with hoteliers and foreign officials. The man who seeks to make as much money as he can out of the job by seeking commissions from traders and others to whom he brings patronage is deprecated. Some companies retain their couriers on their payroll in and out of season, whilst others re-engage them whenever needed.
Coaches built for Continental touring represent the highest standards of bodywork. They are mostly 21-seaters with full luxury fittings. Radio sets are usually found on them, although one or two operators do not favour this equipment.
Views differ as to the ideal chassis. Some operators prefer heavy oilers for their power and solid build, whilst others like light petrol-engined machines on account of their smoother running and easier manceuvrability. Replacement of vehicles is fairly frequent.
Occasional maintenance and repair jobs that may be necessary abroad are more easily carried out now that British manufacturers have established service depots in Continental cities. During the winter, chassis receive a thorough overhaul at home before the next season's work and pass their time on publicity tours or on ordinary private hire.
Higher speeds are generally adhered to on the Continent than are legally permitted in this country. Tyre wear is therefore heavier, one operator abandoning a high-ratio transmission unit on this account. However, mileage is not regarded as an end in itselfby most operators, who prefer a steady average speed to cramming as long a tour as possible into a given period, as is common practice among native Continental tour companies. One concern running large oil-engined coaches obtains 10,000 miles from a set of tyres, with cruising speeds around 40 m.p.h. to maintain an overall average of 30 m.p.h. Another, running petrol machines, shows a figure of 20,000 miles per set with cruising speeds of 37-38 m.p.h.
Some criticism, particularly with regard to an alleged lax attitude by dock staff, has been levelled at British Railways' ferry services. Nevertheless, some tribute
should also be paid, as the amount of traffic carried has gone up enormously over the past few years without any apparent upsetting of efficiency.
On the Dover-Dunkirk ferry, coaches up to 8 tons gross weight are accepted, there being one return trip during the day and another at night. On the DoverBoulogne run, coaches up to 5 tons 18 cwt. are accepted, but one of the vessels used, the s.s. Autocarrier, cannot take vehicles wider than 7 ft. 6 ins. There is also a Dover-Ostend service. Operators running tours to Scandinavia sometimes use this service, whilst some ship their coaches from Harwich.
On the Dover-Dunkirk and Dover-Boulogne ferries, the single rate ranges from £23 to 134. Passenger charges are additional. Rates for coaches with fewer than 10 accompanying passengers are higher.
Besides carrying the vehicles of regular tour operators, a heavier burden was thrown on the ferry services this year in catering for 80 companies sending private-hire coaches to Rome and Oberammergau.
Avoiding the Ferry In an endeavour to obviate the use of the coach-ferry services, with the object of saving money or avoiding the possibility of not securing a booking, some companies ship coaches over to the Continent and retain them there throughout the season. This practice is not looked upon with favour by the French authorities, because they fear that the vehicles may be used in interim periods on work in competition with home operators. When permission to keep a coach in France has been applied for, it has been granted only when
the authorities have been satisfied that there will be a quick turn-round or that there has been a breakdown.
Next year, the French Government intends to issue, through the British Ministry of Transport. permit cards for coaches to be kept in France. Vehicles found without these cards will be impounded.
Festival Repercussions
Ruling out the possibility of more war scares, the business prospects for next year would appear to be good. Not only is the popularity of Continental coach touring increasing among the British public, but the repercussions of the Festival of Britain should help. Foreseeing that if most of our hotels be tilled by British people, next year, there will be no room for dollar visitors, the British Travel Agents' Association is to promote the holidays-abroad idea.
The expected influx of visitors from the U.S.A. should also provide a bigger clientele. Many operators have already attracted much American custom and, with an eye on this market for 1951, have made publicity tours in the U.S.A.
Some talk is current that the Continental touring business is a diminishing trade. The reason suggested is money shortage at home, but there is no real evidence to support this contention. British operators, by dint of careful organization and much hard work, have done surprisingly well in the face of great difficulties, and it is to be hoped that international complications and formalities will ease in coming months, so that greater expansion will be possible.