Earlier this year, Frank Marini was tapped as president of Yankee Leisure Group, which operates Amtrak Vacations. In response to growing interest in domestic travel and vacations by rail, he is spearheading aggressive growth of the Amtrak Vacations product, more than doubling the escorted tour program’s departure dates for 2013, adding 22 programs on the independent journeys side and forging a new partnership with Celebrity Cruises for rail-and-sail packages. Senior Editor Michelle Baran spoke with Marini about his vision for the future of rail vacations in America.
Q: Where are you adding the most capacity?
A: It’s pretty much across the board, but I will say the bulk of the capacity that we’re adding is related to the national parks. So, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and a good amount in the West Coast. We’ve got a lot of focus on the national parks, as we’ve seen great success on that.
Q: Why do you believe that the demand for North American rail vacations is increasing, and why now?
A: For us, this year was a banner year, partly because Europe and other places were soft, so domestic travel really took off. And we’re seeing that going into next year… and train travel is really something so many people love.
People are looking at it more and more. I always go back to the almost 31 million travelers taking Amtrak.
They’re not all commuters. Many of those are traveling on [Amtrak] for leisure. … As people are looking at more domestic travel, they’re also looking at less hassle.
The way we live today, flying is a hassle: TSA, going through the airport. It’s the way it has to be, but it’s a hassle. It’s really not like that on the train. It’s relaxing, it’s easy, it’s comfortable. If you’re looking to see the U.S. and see sights, the view of America from a plane looks like clouds. When you’re on a train you really see America going by. It’s much more relaxing. It might not be as fast, but that’s kind of the point. To really see it.
Q: How does Amtrak Vacations’ pricing compare to other domestic vacation prices?
A: You can’t really compare exactly because if you’re not taking Amtrak, you’re taking an escorted tour or you’re driving.
If you’re comparing to an escorted tour, an escorted tour is great, [but] we don’t have the overhead of a coach. The train is our main transportation, and in some cases where we do have an overnight, it’s also the hotel and the dining.
Q: Do you get proprietary pricing on the rail?
A: We get very good pricing. I wouldn’t call it proprietary pricing, but we get very good pricing as well as inventory.
Q: Are you adding resources to meet the growing demand?
A: As a company, [with] the growth we’ve had this year, we’ve actually hired 26 new staff since January this year.
[Editor’s note: Marini later explained that four of the new hires were replacement staff, so there have actually been 22 new positions created.]
Besides the call center, one of the biggest departments we’ve added to is our product department — to get out there, to build relationships, to negotiate with some new partners.
It’s been a fantastic time for growth, even this time of year, which typically is slower, but it’s still much busier than it was last year at this same time.
Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.