Tenderfeet Education Center, Kenya

Our role as a travel company is to ensure that we’re giving back to the communities that we visit more than what is being taken away in our travels there. Our mission is to enrich the lives of children worldwide – one project at a time. Through the efforts of the Collette Foundation - an employee-run, global initiative we have been making a world of difference around the globe.

Many Collette employees and our travelers contribute time and resources to the projects that the Foundation supports and our blog is a way of keeping everyone apprised of what we’ve accomplished and where we still need help. Visit 

www.collettefoundation.org

• Brett Walker announcing launch of Stanley Park Project
• Damaris Borgas about her trip to foundation sites in Costa Rica
• Carol Wright sharing a customer’s insights on their visit to Tenderfeet in Kenya
• Lynne Kelly sharing the great success of our local diaper drive
• Dawn Lein sharing the newest developments with our Fiji Project
• Kevin Ferguson sharing photos and stories from Peru.

Some other new features to the blog (in addition to the Collette Foundation video - “It’s who we are!”) include The Local Corner – here, our local efforts, volunteer stories, drives, and initiatives with local partners are highlighted and Employee Reflections, a place for our employees to share their own emotional stories of site visits or the launch of new project initiatives. 

If you’d like to stay connected to what’s going on with Foundation, we invite you to bookmark the site, or sign up for the RSS feed (this is on the top header). And for those of you going on a Collette tour that includes a Foundaton site visit, you’ll find in-kind lists on each project page in case you’re wondering what to bring to a site.

Do you have a glass of red wine with dinner because you heard it promotes good health? Or maybe you just like the taste of a smooth merlot?

Whatever the reason, travelers today continue to search out tours that include a wine component in the itinerary. There are many places to learn about wine making and its subtle tasting nuances. Italy comes to mind – which is why all of our Italy tours include wine with every meal and a winery visit is included on most Italy programs. Wine tours are on the rise – and in more places than just Italy. Some of Collette’s food and wine tours include:

Napa Wine Train

• Spectacular South Africa – Discover the Cape Winelands region with its mountainous landscape and endless vineyards. 
• Explorations California’s Wine Country – Napa Valley should be on everyone’s bucket list. 
• The Wonders of South America – Argentina  is the land of sol y vino – sun and wine – and Mendoza, set at the base of the Andes Mountains is breathtaking.
• Exploring New Zealand – Marlborough region considered one of the world’s best wine regions.
• Reflections of Italy – the tour stops at a historic winery in the heart of the Chianti region complete with its very own 12th century castle.

Collette's Winning Marketing Department and their recreation of Angry Birds

As reported last October 31st - at Collette, Halloween is a big deal.

The games were in full swing once again last Friday for a bit of friendly decorating competition between departments – from Air, Accounting, Marketing, the Call Center/Inside Sales, Inventory, Tour Managers, Product, etc, etc.  It’s a day of fun and candy with children from local schools visiting each department in the morning, and the children of employees stopping by for their treats in the afternoon.

Themes this year ranged from Charlie Brown to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to Finding Nemo and Elf – the Movie; but two departments opted for their own recreation of the popular online video game, Angry Birds, and  they ended up placing first and second. The 3rd place winners did a great job with Pirates of the Caribbean.  A special shout out to the Pawtucket Boys and Girls Club who sent over a few employees to judge!

• 1st place – Marketing
• 2nd place – IT
• 3rd place – Product/Ops

The trophy that immortalizes the winner will finally reside in marketing thanks to the incredible efforts of that department’s long-suffering Fun Squad.  

And to all our readers, Happy Halloween!

Floating Market in Thailand

Our travelers tells us that one of the things they like most on their escorted tour is unique modes of transportation. I’m not talking replacing an aircraft to get to Europe. Rather, finding new and fun ways to incorporate the culture of the destination into the way travelers experience it.

Popular “rides” include:

• A rickshaw through Beijing’s ancient neighborhoods
• A horse and buggy carriage in old-fashioned Mackinac Island, Michigan
• An elephant in Thailand
• A camel in Egypt
• A glass-bottom boat through Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
• A traditional Irish jaunting car in Killarney
• A cable car in San Francisco
• A dugout canoe in the rainforest of Panama
• A horse at a typical Argentine estancia
• A sampan to visit a floating fishing village in Vietnam

The most popular ride of all? The complimentary roundtrip home to airport sedan service our clients receive with the purchase of an air-inclusive tour. A free ride is a great way to start and end your Collette tour.

What are some unique ways you’ve experienced getting from Point A to Point B while on vacation?

Durango Train on Trains of the Colorado Rockies tour

All aboard!

Train travel offers a combination of romance and mechanical marvel. Rail lines trace history while whisking travelers through scenery far removed from the highway. Collette passengers love our itineraries that include train journeys. That’s why we have quite a selection to choose from; programs like:

• Canada’s Winter Wonderland (there’s still time to experience this tour with departures this December. Experience VIA Rail Canada’s Snow Train Express from Edmonton to Jasper)
• Canadian Rockies by Train (Overnight aboard VIA Rail’s THE CANADIAN from Vancouver to Jasper)
• The Best of Eastern Canada (VIA Rail train from Ottawa to Toronto)
• Trains of the Colorado Rockies (features Georgetown Loop Railroad, Royal Gorge Railroad, Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad)
• Trains & Canyons of the Southwest (Verde Canyon Railroad, Grand Canyon Railway)
• Trains, Wineries & Treasures of Northern California and California’s Wine Country (both feature the Napa Valley Wine Train)
• Italy Family Discovery
• Discover Panama and Panama Family Adventure (both feature the Panama Canal Railway)
• London & Paris and the London & Paris Family Adventure (what adult or kid wouldn’t like a ride aboard the high speed Eurostar train via the Channel Tunnel)
• Alpine Lakes and Scenic Trains (New for 2012!)
• France Magnifique (features the TGV Train from Paris to Avignon)
• China & Tibet (features the “Sky Train” to the roof of the world in Lhasa, Tibet)
• The Galapagos Islands & Machu Picchu (features a ride aboard the Andes Mountain Train)

To see more details on some of these vacations and others that feature a train component, visit www.collettevacations.com and click on the Rail Tab.

When we left San Francisco on our way to Lake Tahoe I discovered I had lost my money clip with some of my spending money. I asked Derrick if he could contact the Sheraton Hotel in San Francisco to see if by some outside chance I could have left it there. He immediately called the hotel and had someone check out our room and amazingly it was still in the room.

When the hotel refused to mail me the money (they would not send cash by USPS), Derrick contacted Ms. Ann Falzarano who had a tour that day in San Francisco and asked her if she could help getting the money returned. She went by the hotel, picked up the cash (with my permission) and purchased a money order for the amount of the cash I had forgotten in the room. Upon my return to San Antonio, there was a money order for $370 (the full amount) in my mailbox.

Their professional and courteous attitude, expert knowledge, and patience in  handling my specific problem were very important to my complete customer satisfaction. You can be extremely proud to have two employees with this kind of integrity and competence working for your company. Please pass on my sincere gratitude to these individuals adn my personal thank you for a job well done; they are both world class representatives of your company.

This letter was sent to Collette Vacations by Michael Brula of Texas who gave us permission to publish. It illustrates how our tour managers go above and beyond to make sure that each passengers’ vacation experience is stress free! We often receive letters singing the praises of our tour managers. If you have a story you’d like to share about an experience “from the road” drop us a note.

Inside the pages of the Exotics brochure are 28 tours to some of the world’s most sought out destinations including Namibia, Israel, Thailand, China, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and the South Pacific.

New tours featured in the Exotics brochure include Collette’s Israel: A Journey to the Holy Land; Flavors of Thailand; The Wonders of South America; Avenue of the Volcanoes; and Three Kingdoms of Indochina, a 19-day Explorations tour which travels with no more than 28 passengers.

The brochure is available in print and  an e-brochure can soon be found online at http://www.collettevacations.com/ebrochure.cfm.

With competitive pricing and companion air offers on select Australia and New Zealand tours, Collette’s Exotics brochure is definitely worth taking a look at!

Our Explorations brand represents a new kind of tour created for travelers who want to explore in small group settings.

For more Collette “in the news” be sure to check out our Newsroom.

I woke up in an unfamiliar room thoroughly confused. I had gone to sleep in Vancouver, and it appeared from the snowy mountains right outside my window that I had awoken inside a Christmas card.

As I became more conscious, I remembered that the dark forests covered in snow meant that the train had entered the Canadian Rockies. My cozy train cabin allowed me to watch a heavy April snow descend on the remote winter wonderland without even getting out of bed.

Via Rail Canada’s private train cabins proved a pleasant way to travel from Vancouver to Jasper, as I had covered a great distance during the night and gained plenty of time to enjoy the scenery during the day. All my comforts were met as the train chugged on toward its destination with meals freshly cooked onboard, a scenic dome car and even heaven-sent showers.

While I watched for wildlife and reveled in all my legroom, little did I know that the beauty of the Canadian Rockies ahead would prove even more majestic than the misty mountains at present.

I was touring the spectacular Canadian Rockies on a trip with Collette Vacations….

Read more here.

Chateau Lake Louise

Masada

Israel: A Journey to the Holy Land is a 10 day guided tour that visits historic sites and cities such as the Mt. of Beatitudes, Masada, the Dead Sea, Jaffa, Caesaria, Nazareth, Cana, Qumran, Bethlehem, Tel Aviv, Tiberias, and Haifa. Also, Collette clients will visit Acre, the ancient crusader city and UNESCO World Heritage site; Jerusalem’s Old City; and the ruins of Jericho, the oldest city in the world. For those wishing to customize their itinerary, they may do so with the purchase of an optional Jordan post tour extension where they will cross the border and spend 4 days in Jordan visiting the stone-carved city of Petra, the immense, beautiful desert of Wadi Rum, Madaba, known as the “City of Mosaics”, and Amman, known as the “White City” before returning to Israel and departing from Tel Aviv.

In speaking with Manuel Paulo, Collette’s vice president of worldwide contracting, he told me, “Israel and Jordan are amazing destinations with incredible ancient sites and warm, welcoming people. It’s easy to fall back on traditional destinations, but then you’d be missing out on a first-rate travel experience that will leave a lasting impression. Everyone should visit Israel and Jordan during their lifetime;  two countries that I consider ‘must see destinations’ that should be on everyone’s travel list.”

Because many of Collette’s district sales managers  and staff traveled to Israel in 2010 for the company’s annual sales meeting, Collette President and CEO Dan Sullivan, Jr. has said,  “We ‘know because we go’ is really applicable here”.

There are many highlights on this tour - here are my top 5:

1. “float” in the tranquil, healing waters of the Dead Sea;
2. ascend the ancient walls of Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage site, by cable car;
3. take a tour and lunch at a local community restaurant in a Kibbutz;
4. follow the Via Dolorosa and walk the path of the Stations of the Cross;
5. visit the area of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

Dead Sea

With a 2 night stay in Tiberias and 4 nights in the holy city of Jerusalem, “travelers on this tour will enjoy the more relaxed pace,” said Paulo.