AYLESFORD, England, February 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Door2Tour.com, the events package consolidator, has revealed that packages for annual events like Royal Ascot and the Chelsea Flower Show are outselling the Royal Wedding up to five-fold according to latest figures. This all comes despite the Royal Wedding being billed as the Wedding of the Year that has already spawned countless memorabilia, caused a clamour for lookalike engagement dresses and made waves across the world.
The coach holidays and short breaks consolidator, which is currently selling ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ one- and three-day Royal Wedding tours (http://www.door2tour.com/royal-wedding-tours.aspx) to join the crowds lining The Mall on the day of the wedding, say that since the breaks went on sale last November, sales have not beaten those of annual events like Wimbledon and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In fact, despite impressive initial sales and extensive publicity, it features just 7th on the list of the most popular events for 2011, behind popular man band Take That’s Progress Live concert (currently in 5th position) and Royal Ascot trips (currently in 6th position).
The Wedding has made up just 8% of all events sales for this year, compared to 29% for the Chelsea Flower Show ( http://www.door2tour.com/chelsea-flower-show.aspx). Only events like the British Grand Prix, Strictly Come Dancing, the X Factor and the French Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe have sold fewer to date.
In addition to achieving fewer sales than annual events, the travel company claims that there are more people travelling both domestically and abroad in the week leading up to the wedding (commencing 25 April) and over the wedding weekend than there are booked to travel to the Royal Wedding itself. Destinations that customers are choosing to head to instead include Scotland, South Africa, Lake Garda and Germany’s Rhine Valley.
Kate Glanfield, web manager of Door2Tour.com said: “When the Royal Wedding package first went on sale, we saw an initial clamour for those wishing to book, and it’s important to point out that our figures don’t necessarily mean that Royal popularity is waning – it just means that people aren’t necessarily choosing to travel to London to be a part of it. Our customers are predominantly UK-based, so most people are either likely to be steering clear of London and opting to watch at home, or will be travelling to London independently on the day to catch a piece of the action.”
“It’s interesting to see that even though the Royal Wedding truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, our customers would rather go to the likes of Royal Ascot.”
