Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, once again in the spotlight of Dutch tourism


The tour operator TUI Nederland announced this week that starting next November they’ll offer a weekly charter flight from Amsterdam to Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, guaranteeing 52 weeks of uninterrupted flights.

The flight will use the new Boeing 767 aircrafts from Arkefly (an airline property of TUI Nederland), with a capacity for 280 passengers, and will arrive to the Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport every Monday afternoon, heading back that same evening.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity, because the Dutch market knows this region very well. We’ve vacationed here before and have extremely good experiences and anecdotes, so we’re positive that this new route will be a very successful one, and will operate for a long time”, said Manfred Lahey, TUI Nederland’s Long-Haul Product Manager.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) of Riviera Nayarit first came in contact with the travel retailer in November 2010, due to the close relationship that TUI Nederland has with Riu Hotels, which in turn spawned an interest in opening a direct flight between the two destinations. It wasn’t until the end of May when the management of this company approached Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta to begin negotiations.

“This dream is possible because of Boeing’s new technology, which features winglets, that allow us to make longer flights while saving fuel. We’re now able to offer a direct flight, with no layovers and lower costs”, Lahey explained.

The details about a joint promotional campaign between the airline, Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta still needs to be defined, and the wholesale retailer must match the investment made by both destinations, of an approximate 500,000 Euros.

The joint promotional efforts being made by Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit is interesting because it not only allows us to open up to new markets, but also because Dutch travelers usually book 2-week vacation periods, which guarantees a larger economic downpour per passenger to our region.

As part of the strategy to position this new product, TUI Nederland has scheduled a trip for over 250 Dutch travel agents next November 2 to 7, and the tour operator is planning to begin releasing printed publicity one month before.

TUI Nederland currently travels to over 50 destinations worldwide, with Mexico being the third country in number of travelers, according to their information.

IN NUMBERS

76 Economy class seats
84 Comfort class seats
94 Premium comfort class seats
15-day stay per passenger the majority of times

7 replies
  1. Marc Ahles
    Marc Ahles says:

    We've been to Vallarta seven times. The last three times we flew with KLM from Amsterdam to Mexico City and with Aero Mexico to Puerto Vallarta. Next year we'll be back. Hopefully with ArkeFly. It saves us a lot of money and valuable vacation time flying with a charter flight.
    The only thing we don't like is the fact that so many people will be speaking Dutch in Vallarta. LOL

    Reply

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