Julia Smirnov and Alexandra Pelts of Canadian Gateway launch the company’s new Russia & Eastern Europe brochure.

TORONTO — Canadian Gateway is introducing its 2014 program to Russia & Eastern Europe under a new brand name – CG Journeys.

Specializing in this part of the world Canadian Gateway has been a well-known airline consolidator as well as offering tour, cruise and FIT programs since 1986.

“We made the decision to rebrand in order to differentiate our airline consolidations business from tour programs,” said Yury Manukhov, Business Development Director for Canadian Gateway.

“Canadian Gateway is a known airline consolidator brand in the travel trade for special fares to Russia and Eastern Europe, but the name doesn’t carry a strong association in the trade or consumer marketplace with specialty tours to the region.

“We felt CG Journeys would be a more marketable brand under which to promote our tour program to consumers. Our airline consolidation business will continue to operate under the Canadian Gateway brand.”

CG Journeys’ product line-up for 2014 includes Russian River Cruising, rail tours covering Siberia and the legendary Silk Route, extensive coverage of Russia and tours to Belarus, the Ukraine, the Baltics and Eastern Europe. New in this year’s lineup are tours that cover Armenia, Georgia and Karelia.

Earlier this year, the wholesaler received a designation to sell in the U.S. and plans to expand its product offering. As a result, the tour program in the 2014 CG Journeys brochure (polybagged with the Dec. 5 issue of Travelweek) is priced in U.S. dollars.

CG Journeys will also be offering special packages and tickets to the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship in Belarus this coming May.

Canadian Gateway’s strong partnership with the Russian airline Transaero means that agents can take advantage of special low fares to Russia and key beyond markets; and thanks to the partnership agreement between WestJet and Transaero, clients can take connecting flights from 20 Canadian cities via Toronto to Moscow.

Canadian Gateway also continues to work with the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Canada to provide entry visa services.