Maja Pawinska Sims 04 Jan 2023 // 5:15PM GMT
LONDON — Escorted tour operator Jules Verne has appointed Rooster to manage its PR in the UK, after a competitive pitch.
Rooster will work as an extension of Jules Verne’s marketing team to increase brand visibility, managing the brand’s ongoing press office, brand partnerships, creative campaigns, activations, events and press trips.
The agency is also tasked with growing the audience of Jules Verne’s travel podcast, Passepartout – People & Places, speaking to people from around the world about their lives and their love of travel. The tour operator’s UK PR brief had previously been held by Travel PR for 10 years.
Jules Verne was started in 1978 by global off-the-beaten-track travel pioneer Philip Morrell, whose innovative tours included the first London to China railway journey. The firm, which was bought by travel giant Kuoni in 1998 but still operates as an independent company, now offers small group escorted tours of locations from the Hunza Valley in Pakistan (pictured) to the ruined Mayan city of Yaxchilan in Mexico, with a focus on history, art, culture and wildlife.
The tour operator’s general manager Debbie O’Neill said: “Jules Verne wants to remind customers of our impressive heritage and best-in-class quality in the small group, escorted tour space. Rooster was the clear choice to help us; their passion, enthusiasm and wealth of exciting ideas will build a modern, cutting-edge, and flexible PR strategy.”
Rooster managing director James Brooke added: “Rooster has admired Jules Verne’s well-established brand for many years, and we jumped at the chance to represent this industry stalwart. We have exciting plans to shake up Jules Verne’s PR and look forward to shining a light on the brand’s superb ethos and exciting tour offerings.”