Group travel is headed in one direction - upward.

That was the word from motorcoach operators and others who have concluded that the business has rebounded strongly from the troubled years of 2002 and 2003.

Tour Group Magazine Publisher Carl Wassink said strong evidence that the business turned around sharply in 2004 came from tour operators who again bought 12-month contracts for advertising in his magazines.

Most of them dropped their long-term agreements immediately after 9/11 and began placing few ads.

"A lot of people out there think their future is very bright and they have faith in the future," he said. "They've moved past 9/11."

He said tours involving only women, military reunions, big city visits and sports activities all appear to be back.

While many of the old tours are back, a number of regular customers who have returned to coach riding -- and some people new to the market --- are looking for new adventures in traveling, forcing some changes in the business.

David Benedict of David Thomas Tours in Philadelphia said his company has become adept at developing customized tours in response to new demands by customers. "We spend weeks and weeks coming up with new tours," he said.

To ease the development efforts, he said, the company will now craft a special tour for one group and, if it goes well, will re-market it later to similar organizations such as colleges.

Loren Jones of Northwest Iowa Transportation said his company also goes after new riders with specialized tours. Among them, he said, was one built around the appearance of an old, but still popular musical group that was sold to baby boomers. "It has to be something near and dear to their hearts," he added.

Week-long mystery tours have regained popularity as well, according to Autumn Dipert Brown of Dan Dipert Coaches. "We continually sell out," she said. "It shows that our clients trust us."

Benedict said he also has noticed an increase in the number of days people are willing to take a tour. "We had been packing one-day tours, but now we are seeing that people also want two-day or three-day tours," he said.