19.04.23

Kouvola12. April 2012:

WIKINGER REISEN

42 years hiking experience

www.wikinger.de

General facts & figures Wikinger Reisen

Founded in 1969, family owned business

100 employees in Hagen + 300 tour guides

Today: market leader in Europe for hiking tours

2011: turnover € 62,9 Mio. / guests that year: 40.897

1.000 programs in more than 100 countries

Rate of repeat customers: 54 %

6 catalogues

Hiking Tours in Europe

Active Tours Overseas

Trekking Tours Worldwide

Cycling Tours Worldwide

Winter Tours

Hiking in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

www.wikinger.de

Wikinger-Year - 2011

We have had a double figure growth-rate for more than 10 years

Our turnover increased by 12,5% compared to 2010

The market Scandinavia increased, we had more turnover and guests compared to last year

www.wikinger.de

• Estimated increase; turnover + 8 %

• Estimated increase; guests + 6 %

• Overall the travel market will increase about + 3 %

• Trips within Germany will still grow

• Spain is going to recover

• Polarisation of society (loosing middle class) also in tourism

• Exclusive & low cost tours are demanded more & more

• Even repeating customers asking for cheaper tours

Wikinger-Year - 2012

• Hiking target group is getting older and more active.

www.wikinger.de

* percentage increase compared to last year

Turnover Summer Winter

€ 1,450,000 (+25 %)* € 440’000 (+ 2 %)*

PAX Summer Winter

775 (+33 %)* 262 (-13,8 %)*

Scandinavia 2011

www.wikinger.deScandinavia 2012

Turnover Summer Winter

+ 6 % until March 2012 -

PAX Summer Winter

+ 11,5 % until March 2012 -

www.wikinger.de

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3. Consumer profile

Our customers are …

• 35 to 65 years old

• 65 % single travellers, more than 65 % women

• DINKS (Double Income No Kids) and EMPTY NESTERS

• High rate of teachers

• Highly educated people, mostly with university degree

Our guests are ...... Nature-loving people

... “Pleasure-hikers“

... Interested in exploring other cultures and landscapes in an active way

www.wikinger.de

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4. Marketing & Sales

39,5 % turn over with travel agencies

60,5 % direct sales (39,7 % via internet)

Promotions with National Tourist Boards

Attendance at the most important travel fairs

Online newsletters to private customers

Press

Home office workplaces

15 employees in our inhouse call-center (Monday-Friday 8 am to 8 pm)

www.wikinger.de

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4.1. Marketing

Newspaper Adverts

Standalone E-Mailings

www.wikinger.de

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4.2 Customer relationship management

Presentation of new catalogues with multi-vision-shows in 17 major German cities (reached 4.800 guests personally)

„10er-Club“ – our costumer retention programm (> 4.000 members)

„20er-Club“ – exclusive weekend with our GM once a year

„49 on top“ – more than 3.000 members organised

in more than 49 regional groups nationwide

www.wikinger.de

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4.3. Conclusions

What is the story behind our success?

Professional tour guides who take care of the customer around the clock

Small groups with 12 – 24 guests / Trekking: 10 – 16 guests

Good value for money

Tours off the mainstream tourism

Authentic travel experiences

A very careful choice of our products

Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainable tourism

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

A little story from 1974 .... 30 years ago we needed ...

• Very basic accommodation (tents, cabins)

• A backpack with a loaf of bread, some sausages and cheese

• Water was drunk out of a stream

• One pair of trousers, a raincoat, a hat and a pole

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future....

DAS WANDERN IST DES MÜLLER`S LUSTDAS WANDERN IST DES MÜLLER`S LUST““........A famous hiking song everyone knows...A famous hiking song everyone knows...HIKING IS SO EASY, ISN´T IT?HIKING IS SO EASY, ISN´T IT?

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

20 years ago we needed ...

• Boarding houses, Bed & Breakfast Hotels – REAL BEDS!

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

• Packed lunch

• Coca Cola

• Stops at Motorway Restaurants

• One pair of trousers, a raincoat, a hat and a pole

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

10 years ago we needed ...

• Hotel rooms with private shower and toilet

• Occasional Snacks

• Signposted trails and exact route descriptons

• Private outdoor catered dinner locations

• Functional clothing, like jackets and trousers

• Telescope poles

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

TODAY we need ...

• Accommodation:

• 3-4* Wellness Hotels, separate beds, bathrobe in the room, Wireless LAN

• Single rooms having the same size as double rooms

• Massages, sauna, pool, comfortable recreation areas

• Trained staff, speaking English, or even better some German

• Hotel location in an attractive hiking area (hiking trails at/near the hotel)

• Transfer service to entry point of hikes

• Excellent graphic material: hotel pictures, hiking maps

• Nordic Walking routes

• Flexible breakfast and dinner times

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future....

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

TODAY we need ...

• Cooperation – Partnership – Pricing

• Partnership means a long-term relationship.

• With regard to the product-cycle of tours we change a bit on the program to keep it attractive.

• Reliability – if we develop a product, we try to make ist unique and don´t want to find it in the program of a competitor the year after.

• Fair cooperation and pricing – we might bring lower pax numbers than other tour operators, but our guests are staying for a couple of nights or even longer.

• We are looking for hosts who take care of our guests and are commited to our product.

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

TODAY we need ...

• Important for today´s customers:

• Equipment: Guests invest a lot of money in functional clothing etc.

• German speaking hotel staff

• Special meals designed for hiking tours

• Safety-requirements become more important

• Special service for individual hiking and trekking guests

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

TODAY we need ...

• Demands for individual hiking guests

• German speaking reception staff (as there is no Wikinger tour guide with them)

• Daily hiking and/or biking programs of the hotel

• Rentable GPS with hiking routes

• Excellent maps and route descriptions of hiking and biking trails

• Warm and helpful hosts who take care of their guests

• Demands for indivudual trekking guests

• Hotels in a hiking distance of approx. 16 – 20 km

• Hotels doing luggage transfer free of charge

• Excellent maps and descriptions of hiking trails

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

TODAY we need ...

• Requirements of a destination

• Create own USP (unique selling proposition)

• Makes its own brand marketing

• Keep your brand promises (Like Finns are friendly)

• The marketing for a certain region is not the task of the tour operator but of the destination

• Wikinger Reisen can participate in a joint promotion with a part of the budget promoting product and the destination

national tourism authority, regional tourism organization, suppliers and tour operator share the cost of marketing and the success together

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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5. Demands of a Wikinger Tour

What will we need in the FUTURE ...?

• Hiking tours suitable for guests (signs, descriptions, trained stuff)

• Flexible programs: one person will go for a 5 hour hike, the other one will go for a small hike and relaxation at the pool and sauna

• Customized programs with diversified optional activities

• Individual extention programs

• „Pleasure-hiking“

• „Health-conscious hiking“

• Wellness

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

HIKING IS SOOOO EASY, ISN´T IT?

www.wikinger.de

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6. My conclusion and wishes for the tourism to Finland!

Finland´s landscape is known for multi-activities like hiking, canoeing done by „Finns for Finns“.

But to create incoming tourism we need:

Infrastructure: luggage transport between accomodations,

Signed trails, hiking maps and descriptions in german language,

more local german speaking guides

Thematic hiking trails

Interaction of culture and nature

More concrete, useable products

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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I know:

* your mountains are not higher than 3.000 m

* it might be difficult to make them higher

but I know also:

* that our guests demand for the future is: „flach – leicht – wanderbar“ „flat – easy – hikedelicious“

* Finland is 100 % perfect in this demand

And therefore we are forcing new products:

www.wikinger.de

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6. My conclusion and wishes for the tourism to Finland!

Health tourism is the coming market in Germany!

Finland has ideal possibilities in getting new, healthy orientated customers

To do something for your own health in your holiday is a great trend in Germany

To combine acitivities, outdoor-acitivities with good and healthy food

Indoor acitivities like aqua-airobic or yoga, sauna,

Changing demands over the past 40 years and in the future ....

www.wikinger.de

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7. Conclusion: Distinctive features of a successful Wikinger tour

Good performance of the tour guide

Good atmosphere in the group

Good price-performance ratio

Friends who are ready for new ideas!

Friendly hosts!

www.wikinger.de

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THANK YOU

FOR

YOUR ATTENTION!