COACH TOURING
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N EXCELSIS By Tom Walkerley THE banner with the device Excelsior is no longer strange to those fortunate enough to live in Hampshire and Dorset. It is almost equally familiar in the touring grounds of Europe, and even welcomed on seven occasions annually in such centres of culture and industrial invention as Poznan, Warsaw, Minsk and Moscow.
Excelsior European Motorways, Ltd., Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, are the thriving off-spring, now 10 years old, of Excelsior Motorways, Ltd. The latter company were formed in 1928 by Mr. W. Maitland, with local tours and excursions in mind. Now in his early seventies, Mr. Maitland is chairman of the new concern and managing director of the original company, whilst his son, Mr. Vernon Maitland, is managing director of the "European desk."
Inventive Team
Father and son make a formidable and inventive team, in an industry in which competition has always been fierce, and it can be quite remarkably fierce in such a holiday resort as Bournemouth, they have succeeded in expanding their business on satisfactory lines and have plenty of ideas for the future.
So far as the Continental tours side of the business is concerned, Excelsior have specialized in the coach-air type of holiday. They first entered this field, in conjunction with Swissair, as long ago as 1953. They were then, in fact, somewhat premature, for the public had not fully grasped the advantages that were offered by the scheme. Today, Excelsior work 52 departures to the Continent and three to Ireland: all make use of aircraft for the Channel crossings and all are fully booked.
" Centre " Tours
Apart from the Moscow tours, which will be described later, Excel
sior offer 10 advertised tours, of from eight to 15 days, to Continental resorts, and one to Ireland. Most of them are of the " centre " type, -in which the tourists come to rest,
usually from the sixth to the 10th day of their holiday, at one or another of the popular holiday towns. The Bernese Oberland tour, for example, is centred on Interlaken, from which optional excursions are arranged, Other resorts used in the same way include Brunnen, Montreux, Igls, St. Wolfgang and Rimini.
There are, however, plenty of coach tourists who like to cover the maxiirnum distance in the time available. For them, standard routes through c12 Switzerland and Italy have been arranged, including one tour which extends as far south as Pompeii and Sorrento, whence an excursion to the Isle of Capri is offered.
One of the dangers of the coach touring holiday is that of too much motoring and too little sight-seeing, shop-gazing and bistro-sitting. The Excelsior programme overcomes this difficulty by flying tourists to an international airport within striking distance of the holiday-ground proper. Thus, in the case of Swiss and Italian tours, Basle or Luxembourg are the air-bases, and some other tours operate from Ostend.
Excelsior European Motorways have authorized picking-up points not only in Bournemouth, but also at Bridport, Weymouth, Dorchester, Poole, Blandford, Parkstone, Christchurch, Lyndhurst, Salisbury, Totton, Southampton, Chandler's Ford, Winchester, Basingstoke and London. The catchment area, therefore, is of considerable size and value. Timings are so arranged that tourists spend every night of their holiday abroad.
Flown from Ferryfield
All the aircraft chartered by Excelsior are flown by Silver City Airways and are usually Vickers Vikings. The Continental tours which begin at Ostend are flown from Ferryfield, near I.ydd. Basle and Luxembourg departures leave from Gatwick. Next year it is likely that Hermes aircraft will be operated by the charter company on these longer routes.
Once on foreign soil, Excelsior passengers are met by coaches which are locally based during the holiday season. Present national regulations being what they are, this is not always easy. In the case of Belgium, Excelsior have a financial interest in a local company and are able to base two vehicles, an A.E.C. Reliance with a 33-ft. Jonckheere body and a ThamesDuple Yeoman, at Ostend.
Basle to Scotland
In Luxembourg there is another A.E.C. and a third operates from Basle. The Swiss-based coach is brought borne in the middle of the season, to conform with a local regulation requiring 50-50 foreign/national operation. A local coach owner is then under contract to complete the season's work, whilst the British vehicle is released to relieve the pressure on the Scottish tours fleet.
The tours to Moscow, via Berlin and Warsaw (which, incidentally, have been operated since 1957) are conducted in much the same manner as other Continental tours. Passengers are picked up near their homes or in London, driven to Ferryfield and join the long-distance coach at Ostend airport. There is one departure in each of the months of May, June, August, September and October, and two in July. Each tour lasts 15 days, with two nights spent in Warsaw and six in Moscow.
The important matter of visas for the Iron Curtain countries is looked after by Excelsior. In spite of such Russian highlights as the Lenin Central Stadium, the Mausoleum, the Moscow Metro and the Exhibition of Economic Achievements, this is proving to he a highly popular tour at £68 5s.
On its return to base at Ostend, the coach employed on the Moscow run is used for the relatively short eightday tour of the French, Belgian and Dutch capitals, and is then prepared for its next Russian trip.
The tour of Eire (three departures have been licensed for 1960) is organized on much the same lines as for Continental tours. In this case, the air departure point is• Liverpool (Spelce), and tourists spend two nights in Dublin and two in Killarney.
Nearer Home
Excelsior European Motorways also have extensive business nearer home. They have been operating Scottish coach tours since 1949, and today their six programmed holidays, of between seven and 13 days duration, account for 71 departures. In most cases, passengers, are accommodated for two successive nights in the same hotel, the days being passed either in local excursions or "at rest." An idea of the scale of Excelsior operations can be obtained from the annual mileage figures. Continental tours account for about 112,000 miles, and Scottish tours for a further 103,000 miles a year. Both sides of the business attract more than 2,000 passengers each annually. Nor is this the whole story.
More than 100 local excursions are offered and these carry some 100,000 people per year over nearly 135,000 miles. Private hire accounts for a further 100,000 miles.
Plaxton Bodywork All this work is carried out with a fleet of 24 coaches, and such contract vehicles for local work as are needed from time to time. Apart from the three A.E.C. Rehances and the Thames mentioned earlier, the fleet is a Bedford one, the veterans of which are two Duple models delivered in 1956. Apart from the A.E.C. and the Thames. which have oil engines, all vehicles are petrol-driven and the majority have coachwork by Plaxton.
All the bodies are of 36-41-seater design and feature amber Perspex roof panelling. Most are provided with public-address equipment and some with tape-recorders or record-players. The fleet livery is cream. The policy is to replace between three and five coaches annually, partially because Excelsior prefer to offer only up-todate „luxury travel and partially because in the close. season there is insufficient space to garage them.
Maintenance is carried out in a workshop in Southcote Road, conveniently close to the booking offices. In view of the relatively low annual mileage per vehicle, little more than routine attention is necessary: panel repairs or extensive mechanical overhauls are contracted 'out. Full facilities for cleaning the coaches are provided. Records indicate that the petrol engines are returning 9-30 m.p.g., the oilers 14-16 m.p.g., depending on the terrain. With one recut, the Michelin X tyres, which are standardized throughout the fleet, are giving up to 70,000 miles per cover. Apart from their long life, these tyres appear to delay the onset of body rattles and improve the ride over poor surfaces.
As to the future, Mr. V. Maitland foresees plenty of scope to expand the Continental and Scottish touring programmes. True, hotel accommodation of the right kind is not easily available, and arrangements have to be made earlier each year. His Scottish arrangements for 1961, for example, were completed by the first week in July. He is anxious to popularize new touring grounds. Excelsior plan a coach-air service to the Scilly Isles for next year, and the Continent, of course, is virtually unexplored so far as the British coach tourist is concerned.
Active Competition
To expand the local excursions section of the business is perhaps less easy, in view of the active competition. Perhaps the greatest difficulty confronting a company of this kind, however, is that of staff and particularly drivers. The programme is essentially a seasonal one and, however attractive the job in mid-summer, a family man finds it necessary to be fully employed throughout the year. Not all coach operators can guarantee that.