With the New Year now fully in swing we must look to not only ensuring that arrangements for our 2012 summer tours are properly in place, but that planning for 2013 is also well in hand.

As part of our commitment to our customers, our staff regularly visit our resorts to inspect hotels and liaise with our suppliers, especially the local concert venue organisers.

Each of these visits are very intensive affairs, usually with only 1 or 2 days in each resort followed by a lengthy afternoon/evening car journey to the next resort to be in position for the following day's work.

In each resort we will visit our key hotel(s) and if necessary conduct our periodic risk assessment on each hotel. This visit will consist of the usual discussion with the hotelier about forthcoming groups and will of course touch on pricing, new features at the hotel and any internal re-decorations that may have been conducted.

All our staff have been trained by The Warwickshire Fire Brigade and during the tour of the hotel, we will be on the look out for all safety related matters. As a general overview the categories include: Fire Prevention; Fire Detection and Warning; Means of Escape; Firefighting; General Safety including arrangements in the kitchen, on balconies, bedroom and hotel locking facilities and swimming pool safety.

Each one of these inspections takes at least an hour, often two, even if we have visited the hotel before and then we sit down with the owner/manager and just cover anything that we were not sure about and gather the hotel's safety documentation from their local authorities.

Then we'll either be off to look at another hotel or go on to visit a concert venue and discussion arrangements for forthcoming concerts or maybe see new venues that might be suitable for groups in future years.

It is all about constant checking and renewal so that our customers not only are safe but have the most enjoyable experience possible.

So, at this present moment one of our colleagues is visiting both our resorts in Holland, on the north west coast in Nordwijk and then she will be on her way down to our very first resort of Valkenburg.

We are also planning a massive tour which will include Croatia, Slovenia and coming back to the northern Italian resort of Lido di Jesolo before finishing in Lake Garda.

After that two staff will visit Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest and Prague as well as making the long trip to Krakow.

Next we will tackle Tuscany, which will need a few days as this is one of our most popular resorts before heading down to Rome.

Finally, I will be off to Spain again for a brief visit to our resorts to the north and south of Barcelona.

So, we have a really busy few months coming up before our groups depart on their summer concert tours.

Peter Cook

General Manager

Tuesday 14th February 2012

Music Tours | Band Tours | Choir Tours

As 2011 draws to an end we are looking forward to the publication of our annual accounts which we are very confident will show that we have had a pretty decent year.

With all things “economic” considered, it is clear that school teachers and parents and community groups are still willing to spend some of their hard-earned money on music tours with Gower Music International.

We would like to extend our appreciation to all our customers for their business in 2011.

Next year is actually shaping-up even better than 2011, so the news from this small business quadrant is very positive and upbeat.

We have business booked from our regular customers in 2012, but we are also delighted to welcome some new names on our bookings chart from the U.K.

In addition our Australasia business is going well with two big bookings from Australia, one repeat tour and one new tour, as well as a returning group from Malaysia.

2013, believe it or not, is also on the horizon, which may seem strange to many of you who have not yet said goodbye to 2011 and rung in 2012. We have actually received two bookings for summer 2013, one from some very old friends, who have their usual big project in mind, so we’re looking forward to getting to grips with that over the next few months.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our suppliers for their good work in 2011. They have done a remarkable job in providing great service to our customers. Most of our suppliers are long-standing friends of the company and are very much in tune with the customer ethos and quality to which we aspire.

So I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all our suppliers and all our past and future customers, a very . . . . . .

Merry Xmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year

Peter Cook

Director and General Manager

Music Tours | Band Tours | Choir Tours

Back in 1991 our summer tours principally consisted of 5 day sightseeing trips for schools to the Belgian Coast, Holland and Paris. Then out of the blue our hotelier in Valkenburg contacted us to ask if we had any music groups, as he had had a music tour come down from Sweden and wondered if there was a market in the UK.

We decided to send some brochures of a music tour programme to schools in the UK and we were inundated with responses and 5 years later the music tours had become the largest programme in our business.

Nestling in the low hills of Limburg in the south east of Holland, Valkenburg is not the place you would expect to find as a popular tourist resort.

Fought over throughout the middle ages, the residents finally quit re-building their castle in 1672. It still stands atop the hill, derelict, but nevertheless the engaging feature and visitor centre for tourists in the town.

The mass youth tourism of the 70s and 80s (I was one of those as my junior football team stayed there on what was their and my first ever trip abroad) has been replaced by a more mature tourist, that enjoys the numerous hotels and pedestrianised and relaxed town centre.

For many of our young musicians this still proves to be their first time away from the U.K. and away from their family and is a great, safe introduction to travel for them.

There is so much to do within the town and it has its own concert venues too. However, it is also close to the border with Germany and Belgium so multi-country visits are accomplished with ease from Valkenburg as a visit to the splendid City of Maastricht.

Peter Cook

Music Tours | Band Tours | Choir Tours

Deciding on the contents of this week's blog was very easy indeed.

Back in April an orchestra from Christchurch, New Zealand embarked on a huge European tour, starting in Italy and ending in Christchurch, England. With the earthquakes there in 2010, the tour was very nearly cancelled, but they decided to go ahead. This September as I watched the massed choirs at the Opening Ceremony of the Rugby World Cup in Auckland I wondered if they had been invited to take part. I thought it was a long shot as Christchurch and Auckland are a long way apart, but we contacted them just to ask and this was their response. . . . . .

"No, Auckland is some distance from Christchurch and we have very little choral activity this year. Until August we were sharing a site with another school while our buildings and grounds were repaired and strengthened. Our music block was OK and we still used it for orchestra rehearsals after the orchestra returned from Europe, then the students would catch a bus to Afternoon school (1.00pm to 5.30pm) at the High School.

We are now back on our own site and things are going very well. The orchestra trip was a truly extraordinary experience and we had standing ovations and calls for encores at every performance. Our principal (head) has also received many messages from people who were present at the Westminster Abbey performance. It’s still hard to believe that it all happened was so wholly successful. The Gower couriers seemed quite awestruck by the quality of our performances, so it seems that all our extra rehearsal time after the February earthquake paid off. I’m very grateful that I spoke to Janet from Rangi Ruru here, and that she recommended I get in touch with you; the itinerary that you created for us seemed like a dream at first and, even now, several months afterwards, it still seems quite remarkable to us that we actually did it.

We produced a 2012 calendar for the students and their families and for all our sponsors. It contains fifty photos taken by members of our group while on the tour. I’ve attached a PDF sample of the first few pages.

Once again, very many thanks for all you did to make it happen."

It is very much part of our business that we hope to create life long memories for as many people as possible who partake in our music tours, but sometimes a tour transcends even this desire and is a truly brilliant experience for everyone concerned. This was clearly one of those tours.

Peter Cook

General Manager

Music Tours | Band Tours | Choir Tours

We received comments from a group last week and I know that the staff really look forward to such comments, which make the largely desk-bound job of organising music tours such a great industry to be in. The group was delighted with all the arrangements but this part of the report really struck a chord on several fronts.

First, despite planning for most eventualities, you never really know what's round the corner.

Secondly, everyone has to pull together as a team to get the job done.

Finally, when it all comes together, there are some truly wonderful experiences to be had that will stay with people for the whole lives. . . . . .

"Our last concert in Italy was at St Antony's in Padua and it almost didn't happen. We were due to accompany eleven o'clock Mass and so we set off at eight that morning in order to give ourselves plenty of time to make the long journey. We were well over half way there when an Italian traffic policeman looked through the windscreen of his patrol car and decided that it was about time to pull over a foreign coach and waste an hour or so on nothing in particular!

We arrived on the outskirts of Padua at five minutes to eleven. Anthony, our wonderful driver, took us far closer than he should have done (along streets that he later had to reverse back down amid the blaring of Italian car horns) and when he could get us no closer it was two minutes to eleven and we were still three or four hundred metres from the Basilica. We knew that we would be excluded from the service unless we made it to the church before the priest rang the bell for the start of mass but Antonio, our courier, knew the way and insisted we must try. We poured off that bus, mostly barefoot in order to run faster and we tore through the streets of Padua, cheered on by intrigued locals ... 58  fleet footed youngsters and their red faced, exhausted chaperones.  The leading group fell through the door of St Antony's with Antonio beside them just as the priest was raising his arm to ring the bell! But we were in time and they smiled and welcomed us. Seconds later, standing by the high altar, 58 choristers hit their starting note  sweetly and in unison and they sang like angels. There are some moments in life that you will never forget and this was one of them.

During the service that accompanied Mass we could tell that the Monsignor was talking at times about the choir. Antonio told us later that he was saying that the choir represented all that was best about  English youth and that he was overwhelmed  and amazed that such beautiful singing was possible after a long frantic run through the streets to the cathedral. Once again the congregation applauded their singing during Mass; Antonio impressed on us later how rare such a response is. At the end of Mass the choir had been due to give a short recital in the cloisters, but instead a beaming Monsignor insisted that he wanted to honour the choir and recognise the quality of their singing by allowing them to give their recital inside the Basilica in front of the tomb of St Antony. As the tomb of St Antony was cordoned off by red silk ropes as no one was allowed to do anything other than approach the side of the tomb this was a huge honour. The congregation all stayed to listen and applauded and numerous other visitors to St Antony's came and sat and swelled the audience.At the end of the recital the Monsignor chose to have his photograph taken with the choir and presented them with a medal of St Antony. I think you can say that the choir and the good people of Padua took to each other!"

We are all delighted to be the mere catalyst for experiences such as this. Long may it continue ! ! !

Peter Cook

General Manager

Music Tours | Choir Tours | choral trips

With all our summer group music tours safely returned, we can look back on another highly successful season which actually began with a school music trip to Barcelona in February.

Sadly Hardings International Coaches, a long-standing local company to us completed their last tour for us to Paris in April before their demise in July 2011.

I would like to express gratitude on behalf of our customers to our friends at Battersbys, Johnsons, Wicksons, Parks, Royale European, Buzzlines, Parnhams and Jans who have once again done splendid jobs. We also engaged Dreamline Coaches and Wilfreda Beehive this year and they have done our customers proud too.

Early on in April we were delighted to receive for the second time a group from Christchurch in New Zealand. After the double earthquake shocks of 2010 they very nearly cancelled but in true backs to the wall spirit (especially as some members of the group had lost relatives in the quakes) they carried on and duly arrived in Italy for their Europe-wide tour.

In May following the successful opening of Slovenia as a destination last year we had another two groups experience the beautiful lakeside destination of Bled.

In June our popular resorts in Italy were frequented again for the first time in 2011 including one group from Leicester that took the first half of their group to Tuscany only to repeat the experience in July for the second half of their group.

July saw non-stop departures as usual with Lake Garda and Tuscany proving the favourite concert grounds with our clients once again. We were excited to take a group to Berlin and to Porec in Croatia which was a very successful first for our company.

As the General Manager I am always pleased with the repeat business levels and this year was no exception with 77% of our groups having travelled with us at least once before. I think for one group this was their 20th year with us, so either they are very hardy or we must be doing something right.

As you are reading this blog you will be one of the first people to have visited our new website, which has been 6 months in planning and creation and is still not quite finished yet. We are looking to add Moscow to our resorts page shortly.

We have decided to bring the development of our website in house so that we can have much more control over its content. It may not be quite as professional as some other websites, but we hope to deliver plenty of practical information for you to read. If you have any comments or you would like me to make any additions please don't hesitate to contact me on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . It's all in my control now so I am itching to use the new facility.

Peter Cook

General Manager

Music Tours | Band Tours | Choir Tours