Successful first year for new InterRail offer

Turnover increased by 34%

Utrecht, Netherlands, 3rd April 2008 – One year after announcing a new product line-up, management and brand image, the Eurail Group reports that InterRail sales are booming.

The Eurail Group GIE, based in the Netherlands took over the management of InterRail in April 2007, in order to give focus to product management and marketing, with the main goal of helping to recover declining sales.

The product was completely revamped and the old zone system was abolished in favour of two simple concepts; firstly the InterRail Global Pass, covering 30 participating countries and, secondly, a range of single country passes, known as the InterRail One Country Pass. This replaced the former EuroDomino model. The brand was also completely revised and a fresh new look and feel, together with new logo and tagline was launched. Proactive marketing efforts as well as the stimulation and support of InterRail carriers has been instrumental in increasing brand awareness across Europe.

The changes have clearly been beneficial as 170,000 InterRail passengers were recorded from April to December last year, a clear increase on previous years. Turnover for the whole of 2007 (including the first few months of the year when the old style InterRail products were sold) reached 41.5 million euros, a significant increase of 34% compared to 2006 figures.

The Eurail Group’s Managing Director, René de Groot, is delighted with the results and with continued focus, expects sustained growth. “With the right marketing support and sales approach, the management’s aim for the future is to re-establish the strong brand name InterRail had some twenty years ago when ‘InterRailing’ was a compulsory event for every young European and the word ‘InterRail’ was synonymous with Adventure, Freedom and Fun”. Targets for 2008 are to achieve at least 10% year-on-year increase, reaching 187.000 passengers.

InterRail Passes are sold throughout Europe, for rail travel within Europe. The highest sales originate in the UK, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. The InterRail Global Pass, which covers 30 European countries, is by far the most popular product with 113.000 customers, accounting for 66% of all sales. Uptake of the new One Country Passes has also been positive with over 57,000 passengers, proving the need for products targeting short breaks. The most popular destinations to visit with this pass are Germany, Italy and France.

Whilst InterRail has long been associated with young people and students exploring Europe, it is clearly a product for everyone. Travel by rail is romantic, offering a sense of freedom and independence not associated with any other form of transport, and it is this which appeals to a broad target group. The notion of travelling with a single pass throughout Europe has a certain charm and fascination for all age groups, and whilst the product is the same, the experience is unique and individual for each traveller.