MIAMI -- Far & Wide Travel Corp. acquired Journeys Unlimited, a
New York-based operator specializing in religious pilgrimages to
the Holy Land, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
The company traditionally has sold its products directly to
consumers, primarily through churches, but Far & Wide will make
the products available through travel agents, as it has with Grand
European Tours and Regina Tours, according to executive vice
president Barry Kaplan.
Kaplan said Journeys Unlimited caters to a broader Christian
market than Regina Tours, which specializes in religious
pilgrimages for the Catholic market.
Nick Mancino and Ray Masillo, the founders of Journeys Unlimited
will stay on to run the company as president and vice president,
respectively.
In other news, Far & Wide relaunched a series of
historically themed tours in partnership with the History
Channel.
The partnership was formed between the History Channel and IST
Cultural Tours in early 1999 before IST was purchased by Far &
Wide in June of that year.
Though a branded product line was released, "It never really got
off the ground," said Kaplan.
Now relaunched under the Far & Wide banner, the program
includes six new Historic Journeys that will be marketed through
Far & Wide companies Tourlite, Central Holidays and Grand
European Tours as well as IST.
The tours will also appear in the Far & Wide Europe
brochure.
The tours, which will be advertised on the History Channel, will
carry both the History Channel and Far & Wide logos.