parrys coach trips to london 2023

PARRYS INTERNATIONAL

Parrys International

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PARRYS INTERNATIONAL (Cheslyn Hay) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Office Opening - Monday to Friday - 9am until 5pm 01922 414576

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Parrys International Tours Ltd, Landywood Green, Cheslyn Hay, West Midlands, WS6 7QX

Tel No: 01922 414576

E-mail: [email protected]

Coach tourism hopes strong for 2023, operators report

Hopes for a strong year of coach tourism in 2023 are buoyant after two operators active in that sector reported heavy festive demand and a high level of interest at the start of the new year.

Edwards Coaches Contracts Manager Caroline Narloch says that the Llantrisant business saw “a particularly strong end” to 2022. That leaves it hopeful that this year will continue in the same manner. Tours to Christmas markets both domestically and abroad performed well, as did festive shopping trips, she adds; going into November 2022, there was “very little capacity left to sell” on those trips.

Director Mike Edwards notes that the operator’s holiday programme “is slowly getting back up to speed” post-pandemic. He adds that 2023 looks “really promising” after the business carried a credible 30,000 passengers across its 15-strong dedicated tour fleet last year.

Momentum has been gained since dispatch of this year’s summer brochure, Mr Edwards continues, although holidays form a modest part of the South Wales operator’s work. Fuel costs and driver recruitment remain the biggest problems facing the coach industry and Edwards is not immune to that, he adds.

Strong open day for Parrys reinforces 2023 coach tourism hopes

Also seeing a good start to 2023 is Parrys International, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.

It held its first customer open day since 2020 on Sunday 15 January. Managing Director Dave Parry reports that around 1,500 people attended and that a significant number of holidays were sold.

The attendance was down on a previous record of 2,000, but he adds the caveat that very high numbers can be difficult to manage.

Mr Parry notes that while a lot of talk surrounds a recession and reduced consumer spending, evidence thus far suggests that the coach tour participant demographic has a pent-up demand to travel and the financial means to do so. Many members have not partaken since 2019, and that is reflected in some booking trends for 2023.

A minor issue was a delay with brochure delivery due to Royal Mail strikes, but that aside, strong volumes are in evidence, he continues. The morning after Parrys’ open day also proved to be busy. There is an indication that customers who may have been reluctant to travel in 2022 are now returning to the fray, Mr Parry adds, although an overriding key to the business’s open day is attracting new customers.

Channel hopping: DFDS actions help, but still not ideal

Views on European tours in 2023 remain mixed. While Mr Parry notes that this year is the first since 2019 that is expected to see no travel restrictions, the well-publicised crisis in coach crossings from and to Kent created by changes to policies at Eurotunnel in 2022 has abated somewhat.

Parrys plans to use DFDS ferries for all its cross-channel movements this year, with Mr Parry commending the carrier for acting quickly to support the coach industry.

However, he notes that the longer crossing time via ferry has led to some extended days on certain European tours, with one departure needing to leave Staffordshire at 0130hrs to reach its planned overnight stop.

Coach crossings by ferry have challenges on long-distance

None of Edwards Coaches’ tours crossed the channel via Eurotunnel last year because of reduced capacity, says Ms Narloch, although the business did operate departures abroad, including one to Spain using its flagship Red Dragon Mercedes-Benz Tourismo over the festive period (pictured, top).

“As we price tours so far in advance, it was not possible for us to use Eurotunnel without significant additional cost to the company,” she continues.

“That could affect the operation of some of our European departures in the future, as we may not be able to take advantage of the speed of Eurotunnel over ferry crossings.”

Despite worries over the future of its continental programme when the cross-channel crisis broke in 2022, Parrys expects around 60% of its business in 2023 to be overseas. That figure is similar to the proportion in 2019, says Mr Parry, and Ireland is also now performing well as a destination.

“Tours abroad are booking well; I believe that there is a backlog of demand for those trips,” he continues. In particular, longer holidays – including 12-day departures to Italy – are proving popular. Domestically, London theatre breaks are a growing market, Mr Parry concludes.

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2023 Reservations Open

With eagerness to get travel plans organised well in advance, we have opened up reservations for the first quarter of 2023.

Not only will you benefit from getting your travel affairs in order ahead of time, you can also take advantage of our Early Bird offer, 20% OFF your London Superfast journey with code EARLY23 during the checkout process.

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Discount applies to travel between 1st January-31st March 2023 Offer valid until 31st July 2022

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Disappointing evening meals - Parrys International

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Another brilliant trip. Many thanks to the staff Andy and Charlie for getting us there and back and... read more

Just returned from a weekend trip to Norwich and Norfolk, absolutely first class, weather not too... read more

Disappointing evening meals

My friend and I travelled to Newcastle for the tour which included Durham. in September. Hotel was okay and friendly. Great if you want to attend the Football.. Very surprised to have to choose our food for the following 4 nights before being allowed to get off the coach. Consequentially the evening meals were terrible. One evening the food was cold and sent back. Fruit salad on a plate? Asked the Manager for Ice cream to go with it and was kindly given it. The Hotel Menu but all the good ingredients taken out!! This was our second trip with Parrys. Thought it could only get better. How wrong we were. We paid for the proper Menu the last two evenings. We would not go again unless we got a discount and allowed to pay for our own meals and have dinner when we wanted it.

We went on the Christmas at Beamish trip as 3 sisters and our elderly mother. Tom and Louise our driver and hostess were excellent. They were very attentive and both worked very hard to ensure everyone enjoyed their trip . They were very caring towards our mother , helping her on and off the coach and ensuring her wheelchair was always ready and waiting for her . The coach was luxurious with drinks and a good variety of films available. The only problem with this trip is that it was a whistle stop tour ! There was just too much crammed into the Friday till Sunday break . It took over 2 hours to pick up in the area before we even started the journey to Sunderland . Tom did apologise for this , however we have been on a previous trip where this was also the case . Maybe less pick up points are needed. This trip is titled Christmas at Beamish’ but we were only there 3 and a half hours . We arrived mid morning and had to leave at 13.30 prompt. The area is huge and although there are trolley buses around the site , this is just not enough time and we only saw half . We would have liked to have spent all day there even if the trip cost more . There were some nice looking cafes which we would liked to have eaten in . We then went to Durham for a few hours , again not enough time to explore and eat lunch as very busy so it was a greggs takeaway . Not much to see here so a few hours were plenty . We then went back to the Hilton hotel right by the stadium of light football ground . The hotel was lovely , great rooms, great staff . The evening meal which was ok, nothing special but was served at 6 pm ! Much too early with nothing to do all evening . The next day we were going to York Christmas market which we were all looking forward to but again we only had a few hours and felt extremely rushed .30 minutes walk there and back to the coach leaving even less time . Again it was a greggs for lunch . The coach journey back took so long however it was comfortable and we were well looked after . To summarise, there is just too much crammed into this trip . Spend a whole day at Beamish and forget Durham. Leave York later which would also miss some of the traffic. We did enjoy our trip but it could have been oh do much better .

Parry’s coaches were organised, the driver Neil worked hard to make sure we had a great holiday in Bournemouth.

We booked the Italian Highlights tour at a cost of nearly £5000 to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary and I have to say it was a huge disappointment, this was made even more disappointing by the response received via the management. We set off at 5:00 am full of hope and anticipation of a great holiday. Things started to go wrong from the start, no comfort break between the pick up and arriving at Dover for our ferry crossing. We then travelled to our overnight hotel in Germany sadly we arrived to late for an evening meal which was stated on the trip details as possible. We then travelled to St Anton in Austria for an overnight stay which was okay. Set off the next day to arrive in Italy to begin our tour, then things didn’t go as planned. Some very good highlights but marred by the fact that we didn’t actually do all items on the itinerary and a few disappointments around some of the hotels and the standard of the food. The main let downs were the fact that the Pompeii trip was cancelled without prior warning, the promised Trevi Fountain and Milan visit never happened then to cap it off the Paris Bistro meal was cut short because the courier didn’t like the noisy crowd in the room below us, who I have to say were polite enough when we had to pass them to vacate the building. The courier on the whole did a good job but the driver was sometimes very rude and stressed a lot of the time. He stated that we couldn’t use our mobiles on the coach but it was okay for them to use their phone as they pleased, since found out this is not company policy. See attached letter of response from the owner of the company

Helpful pre booking support the trip to Austria was all delivered to a very high standard and delivered excellence as promised. Luxury coach and knowledgeable crew made this holiday one to be remembered and repeated . The hotel in Strobel was lovely very traditional quality rooms well appointed with views to surrounding mountains. Restaurant great food and service well delivered. The lake and water sports 5 minutes walk away

Excellent Royal London trip! Visit’s to Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace and Kew Gardens and as always a great Marriott hotel. Good value trip with plenty to see in London. Coach was as ever spotless and Neil and Haley excellent hosts!