Context Strikes Agreement with Merit Group
MARCH 26, 2009 - Context, the network of scholars and professors who organize in-depth walking tours of European and American cities, has entered into an agreement with Toronto-based Merit Travel Group's Exclusive Tours to represent their walks and trips to the Canadian market. Exclusive will take over all marketing and sales in Canada, including relationships with agents, destination managers, and the general public in an effort to grow and expand Context's business there.
"Exclusive has great resources in Canada," says Context co-founder Paul Bennett. "They've built a solid reputation in the travel business. Both [Exclusive managing director] Michael Geske and [parent company CEO] Michael Meritthew understand and excel in the quality travel niche in which Context thrives. We think it will mean a greatly expanded presence in Canada."
Under the terms of the agreement Exclusive Tours will fold Context's inventory of scholar-led half-day "walking seminars" into its portfolio of tours and other travel services, which it supplies to the Canadian travel market. It will also represent Context's newly-launched multi-day tour packages.
"Context's 'walking seminars' are extremely unique in the travel sector," says Exclusive Tours managing director Michael Geske. "We think there's great potential to find a wider audience for this kind of in-depth cultural experience in Canada."
Founded by National Geographic writer Paul Bennett and designer Lani Bevacqua, Context is a network of scholars and experts in such fields as art history, archaeology, gastronomy, and architecture who organize and lead thematic walking seminars in eight cities: Rome, Paris, New York, London, Naples, Florence, Venice, and Istanbul. Travel + Leisure has named Context one of the top European tour companies for its innovative approach to travel and the depth of its programs. To learn more about Context visit its website at: www.contexttravel.com
Exclusive Tours specializes in providing the Canadian market with quality niche travel offerings and are widely recognized as "the experts in small-ship cruising." In addition to their collection of luxury river and barge cruises, they continue to expand their product of niche travel products, which now includes skiing, golf, expedition cruising and walking tours. For more information about Exclusive Tours, visit www.exclusivetours.ca.
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