TORONTO — Blue-Roads Touring is rolling out its 2022-23 schedule to the public, region by region, over the coming weeks.

According to Vicki Ioannou Theophilou, Director of Business Development, The Americas, the tour operator made the decision to release the schedule early in response to pent-up demand for future travel.

“We have spent the past few months speaking to customers who originally planned to travel in 2020,” she said. “Customer feedback highlighted a strong desire for the option to plan travel and make a travel booking further out than usual. We are excited to be launching our 2022-23 tours schedule much earlier than we typically would. The future looks bright for travel and we cannot wait to welcome our customers back on the road.”

In a recent survey of mature North American travellers, Blue-Roads found that 85% are planning to travel to Europe for their next international holiday, with England, Scotland, France and Ireland being the most in-demand countries for future travel. With this in mind, Blue-Roads is releasing tours for 2022-23 in the U.K. and Ireland first, with other European regions to follow. Tours to the U.K. and Ireland, including customer favourites such as ‘Corners of Cornwall,’ ‘Chelsea Flower Show’ and ‘A Scottish Journey,’ are not available to book.

All tours across Europe are expected to be available for booking by early April 2021. All tours will continue to be led by Blue-Roads’ local Tour Leaders.

To ensure comfort for its guests, Blue-Roads will also continue to have a maximum of 18 passengers per tour. According to the survey, 96% of respondents said they would feel most safe travelling in a small group of up to 18 people, as opposed to medium or larger tour group sizes.

The survey also revealed that flexible booking policies are the most important consideration for customers when cooking their next group tour holiday. In response, Blue-Roads Touring’s COVID Assurance and Extra Flexible Policy is currently in place for all new bookings. Moreover, Blue-Roads has been awarded the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Safe Travels stamps for adhering to public health instructions and WTTC’s guidelines.