With consumers practising social distancing in their day-to-day lives, their travel habits will have to reflect this new way of life. Consequently, this changes the way that group travel tours work, and operators have already started to adapt.
Teresa Richardson, md of The Travel Corporation, told Travel News that group travel, or ‘guided holidays’, would still feature very strongly on the travel wish lists of South Africans. “TTC brands, from Trafalgar through to Luxury Gold, Insight Vacations, CostSaver and Contiki will embrace the new normal once our borders open.”
Teresa said for Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold, trips with 20 guests or more would have a dedicated wellbeing director whose sole responsibility would be to ensure guest safety at all times. This includes on-board sanitisation of coaches, ensuring all service providers (hotels, restaurants, and attractions) are 100% compliant with hygiene and safety standards.
“We’ve also made travelling in your own personal bubble a highlight. Small-group travel is possible over many of our trips, and it is a glorious way to share the love of travel with your loved ones and close friends,” Teresa added.
Jane Davidson, director of Development Promotions, told Travel News that there would definitely be a space for group travel. “Travellers will still be looking for guiding and inside information whilst travelling. Standard procedures that we’ve seen from the brands that we represent include updated cleaning procedures, reduced group sizes, more use of private vehicle transport and less public transport, as well as allocated seats on vehicles.”
G Adventures has launched a new ‘Travel with Confidence Plus’ collection that includes 41 updated trips with extra safety measures in place, as well as a ‘Book your Bubble’ collection, which allows groups of eight or more people travelling together the advantage of having their own private tour guide on the trip.
Janine Pienaar, sales and marketing manager of Globus Family of Brands, told Travel News that coach tour operator Globus and Cosmos plan to ensure social distancing while guests are travelling or at attractions or restaurants, and that bags and coaches are sanitised every day. This group also offers an option of ‘Small-Group Discoveries’ for many destinations, with an average of 24 guests per departure. ‘Private Touring’ is another option for travellers in Europe, allowing customers to hand pick the travelling party – between two and two dozen people.
According to the Globus and Cosmos ‘Travel with Confidence’ information pack, the tour operator has removed many of the ‘touch points’ of travel, including luggage handling, hotel check-ins and check-outs and the purchase of sightseeing tickets. Additionally, tour directors secure expedited entry into attractions, eliminating the need to wait in queues.
