Collette held a sales meeting in Morocco last fall. As part of the visit, they decided to try what sounded like a splendid hotel in the Atlas Mountains.
It appeared to be a few hours away, but it took far longer to get there than expected, and the group didn’t arrive until 6 p.m. They were supposed to be in Fez the next day, so it looked like their plans to enjoy the hotel and some beautiful mountain hikes was going to go by the wayside.
But Paul Vieira, senior global Contracting Manager for Portugal, Spain, France, and Morocco, and his staff called a meeting and quickly adjusted the schedule so they would spend one less night in Fez and an extra night in the mountains. They also adjusted their Spain and Morocco itinerary so the public would enjoy more time at the hotel, the Bin El Oudaine.
Vieira said that kind of last-minute schedule shift is indicative of Collette’s nimble approach to touring.
“We do regular surveys with our customers, sometimes within hours of a trip being over; hotel quality surveys, restaurant quality surveys,” Vieira said over lunch at a fine Portuguese restaurant in downtown Toronto on 19JUN, with a sprinkling of media in attendance. “If something doesn’t meet our standards, we change it.”
“Our product buying and design team, we’re based in destination,” Vieira said in a one-on-one interview with Open Jaw. “I’m based in Portugal now, so we have boots on the ground. We’re not just looking at a hotel review on Google or Trip Advisor. We’re visiting these properties, vetting them, finding these experiences live and in person to make sure they’re delivering things to our customers the way that we envision.
“We literally work street by street. ‘This looks charming. This looks great.’
“It’s one thing to see something on paper, but when you’re there live it allows you to curate and tailor things to customers’ needs,” Vieira said. “You find those little sweet spots along the way. We do a goat farm visit in the south of France, a father and son duo. It’s not in a tourist town, and they have the most amazing goat cheese, paired with wine and crusty French bread. After that you go on a truffle hunt with a local chef and then go to a country home and have an entire lunch based on truffles. It’s probably one of the most memorable experiences we have.”
Vieira said reports of the death of “revenge travel” are greatly exaggerated.
“We’re absolutely still seeing revenge travel. I don’t think it’s subsided yet in Europe. It’s a challenge with my job, finding partners who are willing to work with tour operators and willing to be flexible to meet our needs.
“We don’t just want a standard three-course dinner in the back of the restaurant. We want our customers to feel they’re coming as an individual traveller and having a meal they would with their friends, or having a unique experience like a cooking class or a wine cellar dinner.
“So, revenge travel is still at the forefront. I hope it subsides a little bit (chuckles) just to have a bit more leeway with our travellers in destination. Because you see what’s happening in major cities like Barcelona and Rome and Florence. Overtourism is a real thing.”
With overcrowding in summer top of mind, Collette is looking at ways to spread visitation to popular areas to traditional off-seasons.
“We’re creating and pushing a lot more tours through what I’m going to refer to as ‘smart season.’ Not shoulder season, but smart season. You should travel to the south of Spain, but go in November or December or March. There are less crowds. You’re not fighting for space at the Alhambra or the Mezquita in Cordoba.
“We’re also booking overnight stays in cities that might be overlooked. We stay in Cordoba because I want our customers to have experiences other travellers don’t have. Most tour groups come in at 9 a.m., see the Mezquita, have lunch, pack the whole town, and then everyone leaves. We take our travellers to the Mezquita at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. The sun is setting. The light coming into the Mezquita is unbelievable. It’s a spiritual, mythical experience to walk around Cordoba at night. That’s what I want our customers to experience.”
Collette has 170 tours available around the world. And they try to avoid one-night stays so travellers get a deeper feel for the destinations they visit. Not to mention, it takes less time to pack and unpack a suitcase.
“We always position Collette as that premium tour operator. We’re four-star superior plus. We dabble in five-star here and there, but it’s not our strong suit. We really give you the four-star premium experience, very inclusive, at an attractive price point.”
Other companies aren’t as inclusive as Collette, Vieira said.
“We want to give our travellers that cultural experience with an all-inclusive package that’s still hitting all the major sights. We’ll take you to the Sagrada Familia and the Alhambra, but we’ll also take you to a home-hosted dinner or a guitar makers’ workshop in the Azores (where he lives in summer) so you can see how a guitar is made, and then we’ll surprise you with a wonderful guitar player at your home-hosted dinner. Those are the things that make us different.”
Vieira said Collete just recently announced its Portugal Old World Charms tour.
“Portugal is super trending right now. We saw a 45% increase in travellers to Portugal and Spain last year. Within our European product line it had the largest percentage of growth. Portugal and Spain are still being viewed as more affordable.”
The company also sees a significant pickup in its small group travel, Collette Explorations.
“One of the top explorations tours in my region is the Flavours of Portugal and Spain. It’s a two-week tour that starts in Lisbon, takes you up to northern Portugal to Porto and the Douro Valley, crosses over into Salamanca and visits Rioja, and then we end in the Basque country with a three-night stay in San Sebastian.
“For me, one of the most fantastic properties we stay at is a hotel in the Douro Valley (Villa Gale Douro Vineyards Hotel) that’s perched on the terraces of the vineyard. You come in on those narrow, switchback roads through the terraces and you get to this fantastic property. You open your hotel window and you’re in the vineyards. The views are unbelievable.
“We’re also finding that single hotel stays are working really well in the south of France. We have a Spotlight on the French Riviera tour, with seven nights. But there’s one hotel in Nice and you use it as a hub and spoke for visits all around; visiting Cannes, visiting St. Tropez, Monaco, Monte Carlo. And you don’t have to change hotels.
“Our Northern France program is always a popular one; round-trip to Paris. You’re visiting Normandy. Saint-Malo, Brittany, you’re getting into the Loire Valley. We start in Versailles, and you get two nights. Why? Because we’re giving you exclusive tours of the palace. You’re getting guided visits to the private apartments of the palace. You’re staying overnight so if you want to go in at night and see the gardens and the water fountain show you can do that, versus just a day trip or a half-day trip from Paris. And then we finish in Paris, where you can see the Eiffel Tower and take a Seine River cruise.
“In Morocco, we’re seeing a pickup, given what’s happening in the Middle East. Our travellers are viewing Morocco as a safe destination, which it always has been. The king of Morocco has done a lot in the tourism industry to make Morocco that safe destination with that Muslim exposure and culture, along with a touch and flair of European lifestyle.
“We’re also seeing a big increase in single-women travellers to Morocco.”
Speaking later over lunch, Ron Lonsdale, Vice President, Canada, said 40% of Collette's 2025 departures are already guaranteed and that 70% of their product is open through May of 2026.
