New cultural travel brand launches to promote truly immersive travel experiences

Tauck, one of the leading tour operators focusing on foreign adventures, has just unveiled a new brand initiative called “Culturious ” – a “new kind of guided travel” that takes intimate groups on adventures that deeply engage them in the cultures they’re visiting.

Tauck is tailoring the Culturious trips for boomer-aged travelers and combine a more active, immersive, “hands-on” approach with smaller groups and an in-depth, regional focus.

“It’s been very exciting to get the word out to agents and consumers about the new Culturious trips,” said Tauck CEO Dan Mahar, “and we’ve been very encouraged by the enthusiastic response we’ve seen.” Interest in the new Culturious trips has also included mainstream consumer media, with the Culturious launch being highlighted in the New York Times and in an Associated Press article that has appeared in over 50 news outlets across the country.

What is Cultural Travel?

Cultural travel is a new brand of travel experience that allows travelers to actively engage themselves in the cultures and communities they are visiting. Tauck’s new brand, Culturious, takes intimate groups of like-minded people on adventures that are hands-on, totally immersive, physically active and, above all, fun.

Catering to this emerging travel trend, Culturious was designed for active, inquisitive travelers who are curious about culture. Culturious tours are typically small groups (20 people on average), with more active components like hiking, biking, kayaking and horseback riding. The program employs unique, luxurious boutique hotels and exceptional access to the hidden corners and overlooked wonders of the most memorable places in the world.

Each travel experience is meticulously designed and choreographed to allow travelers to stretch their boundaries like never before.

Tauck will operate three Culturious itineraries in 2009 in Italy, Peru and Manitoba, Canada. Additional itineraries slated to launch later will highlight Provence, Croatia and Southeast Asia among other destinations.

Interactive journeys

In line with the new program, Tauck has also unveiled a new website and corresponding marketing materials to boost awareness of cultural travel and market the program to travelers and travel professionals alike.

The new Culturious web site includes videos highlighting the Culturious approach to travel, as well as destination-specific videos spotlighting vignettes from each itinerary.

Each Culturious journey is also supported on the site with detailed daily itinerary information, zoom-able Google maps (with satellite, conventional map and hybrid display), consumer message forums, and profiles of some of the local experts featured on Culturious journeys.

Also, a new 44-page print brochure also features itinerary details for each journey, profiles of local experts, and additional information on Culturious.

For more information, visit http://www.culturious.com.