VIA Expands Yankee Leisure Group Partnership
VIA Rail Canada has strengthened its partnership and added new itineraries with rail specialist, Yankee Leisure Group (operating brands: Amtrak Vacations, Unique Rail Journeys and Yankee Holidays).
The partnership will expand tourism packages on VIA Rail for North American travellers, as well as providing additional options for travel agents to earn commission on a number of Canadian and North American rail bookings through Yankee Leisure Group/Amtrak Vacations.
“Strengthening our partnership with YLG is a great opportunity for VIA Rail Canada to introduce our product to new travellers across North America,” said Martin Landry, chief commercial officer, VIA Rail Canada. “We want to invite them to travel to Canada to see our beautiful country from the comfort of our trains and varied routes. These new itineraries not only provide great value, but also a unique opportunity to combine our network with Amtrak’s to offer two nation rail vacations in one simple transaction.”
Frank Marini, president of YLG, commented, “We are thrilled to be working together with VIA Rail Canada to jointly launch these new and exciting rail vacations. Our goal is to showcase the best of what Canada and rail travel has to offer. With our Amtrak Vacations brand, our travel agent partners in the US and Canada can not only connect from any of the 500 Amtrak stations across the United States to these new VIA Rail packages, but also earn commission by booking Amtrak and VIA through us.”
The new Canadian Rockies vacation package will visit Vancouver, Victoria, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary. The Cross Canada package will visit Toronto and Niagara Falls before departing on The Canadian for a three-night journey to the Canadian Rockies and the towns of Jasper and Banff. Travellers then move on to Vancouver where they can choose to extend their stay and visit the city of Victoria or travel to any of the cities that Amtrak services in the United States.
The Capitol to Capitol program begins in Toronto and journeys to Niagara Falls before visiting Ottawa. From there, travellers journey to Montreal before departing for New York City, travelling through Philadelphia and to Washington D.C.
These new itineraries will operate on most days and in any direction throughout the year, giving travellers plenty of options regarding the days and seasons they would like to travel. Customers can also choose their level of accommodation, both onboard VIA’s trains and their hotel providing a price point to suit any budget.
