Rail Europe Presents Its Strategy as Leading Global Brand for European Train Travel

Company sets target to reach over €500/$552 million in annual booking revenue by 2022 with help of new technology

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Oct 16, 2019, 07:00 ET

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Oct. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rail Europe, the global leader for European train ticket booking and support for more than 80 years, announced today a new strategy and technology to get more international passengers onto the tracks traveling across Europe by train, the most sustainable mode of travel. Powered by e-voyageurs SNCF, Rail Europe will enhance the technological integration for its B2B customers with a simple booking experience that benefits from comprehensive and continuously updated offers on a new dedicated platform. Rail Europe also continues to be a supportive travel companion for its B2C customers by capitalizing on a single brand.

"By investing in state-of-the-art technology, Rail Europe's goal is to always deliver a first-class user experience, making train travel easy to book for every customer, no matter where in the world they are," says Dau-Khoi Nguyen, President & CEO of Rail Europe. "Our international strategy with the launching of a new platform will further strengthen our position as the number one worldwide distributor of European train tickets."

Rail Europe, the international business unit of French group e-voyageurs SNCF, has played a key role in promoting and simplifying access to European train travel since the company was founded in the U.S. in the 1930s. Rail Europe sells approximately four million train tickets each year, two-thirds of which are booked and sold through international travel trade partners, and one-third through the consumer market making it the leading distributor of European train tickets in the world.

Rail Europe is launching a new dedicated technology platform for travel industry partners called Easy Rail Access (ERA). ERA is a one-stop-shop that makes the booking process easier and quicker than ever before for agencies and travel advisors that benefit from comprehensive, continuously updated offers and customer service support. Rail Europe is progressively deploying the Easy Rail Access platform worldwide until 2020.

"Rail Europe is working hard to make the user experience for its travel advisor partners easier and more productive," says Nguyen. "ERA will allow them the ability to find rail choices and the information they need for their clients much more quickly, as well as complete the booking process faster."

Nguyen also went on to remark that, "Europe maintains its status as the most attractive tourist destination worldwide and last year the European train travel market for passengers coming from outside Europe was estimated at €800 million to €1 billion (approx. $883 million to $110.4 billion). It is estimated that this number could almost double by 2028, as consumers become more environmentally-aware, realizing that the train remains the sustainable means of transport after cycling."

In 2018, Rail Europe saw an annual turnover of €335 million (approx. $370 million), which will increase to €400 million (approx. $442 million) in 2019. The company expects to surpass €500 million (approx. $552 million) in annual booking revenues within the next two years.

Last month Rail Europe announced its plans to rebrand the e-voyageurs SNCF-owned and award-winning train ticket booking platform Loco2. The rebrand will go live on Nov. 6, 2019. The Loco2 integration to the Rail Europe brand will enhance the overall consumer user experience for individual travelers.

"Rail Europe will continue to work collaboratively with Europe's biggest train operators to ensure the interests of passengers are always the main priority," says Nguyen. "Rail Europe's overall ambition is to be the preferred travel company for anyone in the world wishing to enjoy Europe via train, and those who are booking on behalf of their customers."

About Rail Europe

Rail Europe, part of e-voyageurs SNCF, is the world's No. 1 distributor of train tickets and passes. We are the business and technology partner of more than 20,000 travel professionals in 70 countries. We offer the widest selection of train journeys across more than 30 countries, 25,000 destinations, and 11,000 different routes. Our catalogue of products focuses on trains with European carriers such as SNCF, Eurostar, Thalys, Trenitalia, DB or Renfe, rail passes such as Swiss Travel Pass, Eurail or Japan Pass, and unique luxury great train journeys such as Rocky Mountaineer, Orient-Express or Trans-Siberian. We also offer travelers a train booking platform in over 30 countries in local languages, payment options and currencies.

About e-voyageurs SNCF

e-voyageurs SNCF houses the full range of the SNCF group's client-oriented digital capabilities, driven by the French leading e-commerce player OUI.sncf, the Digital Factory of e-voyageurs SNCF, the international expertise of Rail Europe and Loco2, the MaaS & New Mobilities Program as well as the service offering of the SNCF Assistant since June 2019: the new version of the SNCF app enhanced with new mobilities to allow customers to securely find and pay for their itinerary, travel and get real-time information on their journey. e-voyageurs SNCF achieved business volumes of €4.7 billion (approx. $5.2 billion) in 2018 and sold 110 million train tickets.

Connect with Rail Europe on:

MEDIA CONTACT USA & CANADA:

Brigitta Kroon-Fiorita
Kroon Communications
Telephone: (203) 826-9627
Cell: (203) 807-1130
Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Rail Europe