When Gate 1 Travel launched Discovery Tours by Gate 1 Travel last week, it became the latest tour operator to enter the small-group tour market, a further indication that travelers are increasingly asking for smaller group sizes, more intimate properties and more unique travel itineraries.
Gate 1 Travel has built its business on sending a high volume of passengers on competitively priced larger group tours. But for 2013 it is introducing Discovery Tours by Gate 1 Travel, a brand of itineraries that will be limited to groups of 18 passengers, with guaranteed departures.
The move comes on the heels of a similar launch by Brendan Vacations, which recently rolled out a roster of small-group tours to exotic destinations such as Vietnam, South Africa, India, Guatemala and Colombia under its Boutique Journeys brand.
Discovery Tours by Gate 1 Travel is premiering its small-group line with 12 itineraries for 2013, said Marty Seslow, the operator's vice president of marketing. The destinations will include China, Southeast Asia, Nepal, Southern Africa, Morocco, Turkey, Italy, Peru and Ireland.
Most of the destinations are ones that Gate 1 already serves, but Seslow said that the Discovery Tours will also feature some new countries for the operator, including, for example, in Southern Africa.
Seslow said Gate 1 created the product both to respond to market competition, with an increasing number of tour operators rolling out small-group tours, but also in response to travelers who are asking for a more immersive travel experience at smaller, boutique properties.
Seslow noted that after taking a Gate 1 tour, passengers "come back and say 'Gate 1, we loved it, but we stayed in a Sheraton and we had 68 passengers on our trip and didn't feel we were able to see as much because of that.'"
Most of the Discovery Tours will be between 12 and 14 days and will be priced at about $600 to $800 more than a comparable standard Gate 1 tour. Each Discovery Tours itinerary will feature full days of touring, cultural activities, most meals (including wine and beer with dinner) and accommodations.
Gate 1 will have about one departure per Discovery Tours itinerary for 2013, with the ability to add departures if demand requires.
Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.