Spyns Tour de France: Sold Out!!!

We've experienced overwhelming demand for the 2010 Tour de France trips and I'm happy to report that a number of former clients are coming back. Our luxury tours recently sold out and we have just a few rooms left on our classic trips. I'll be heading to the Pyrenees next week to check out an incredible hotel we've optioned for another luxury tour (bringing our total to 3) and will keep you posted via this blog and the website.


More Trips in 2010

We're working hard to ensure that everything goes smoothly in 2010. With Lance's return in 2009, demand was so high we had difficulty finding hotels, restaurants and even buses. My 2009 trip was the first time that I didn't know everyone's names on the trips and it was a strange experience! This year we were very lucky to book hotels so close to the action although, learning from past experiences, I started looking in early September.



Top 5 Things We Plan to do Differently in 2010


1. Smaller Groups: Last year we sometimes had groups of 40+ people (although broken into subgroups of 15-20) but this was too much. We couldn't maintain our service quality and won't make the same mistake for the 2010 Tour de France trip.


2. Run Tours Independently: Last year we tried to centralize the logistics (bike transport, rides etc) with mixed results. We also gathered the groups together for a BBQ for the Annecy time trial. Former Spyns clients told me that they would have preferred we kept the groups smaller rather than run a "town meeting" barbecue.

3. Fewer Logistics: We overdid it in 2009 with too many rides and activities. Eventually our former clients said they were simply burned out. This year, we've lightened our load with fewer activities. We also chose hotels that are closer to the stages so that clients can often walk/ride to see a stage rather than by taking a bus as in previous tours.

4. More Booze: Just kidding. As our former clients know, there is never a shortage of beer, wine, and occasionally the odd bottle of gin (for my fellow Canadians of course).

5. Listen: I suffer from a bad case of "I'm always right" but have learned to listen to clients. I know routinely ask people how they found out about us and what we can do to improve our website and communication in general. We're also going to be launching a membership/rewards program for our former clients. We've been so busy the last few years that we haven't spent enought time keeping in touch with former clients. That's changing now that we've added more staff.

If this year's numbers are any indicator, we're certainly doing something right because we've already sold out one of our tour (thanks to quite a number of former clients), and are poised to sell out again in 2010. I wanted to extend my profound thanks to all of our former clients because without you, Spyns never would have succeeded.

For more information about Spyns Tour de France tours, or to request references from Spyns former Tour de France clients, please visit our website www.tdf-tours.com or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.