TORONTO — With COVID-19 leading to travel restrictions around the world, tour operators have been forced to re-evaluate their plans for the coming months, with many suspending operations and updating their travel policies to accommodate impacted clients.

Here’s the latest from top tour operators. This list is updated as we receive new information from each company. The latest information can always be found at the company’s website.

LATEST UPDATES: Sept. 21, 2021 – Globus family of brands; Sept. 10, 2021- Contiki, Costsaver, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold and Trafalgar

ACV

Packages and other vacation ideas to Europe, sun destinations, Canada and more can be booked with ACV. ACV’s Information Hub can be found here.  Also helpful is ACV’s Know Before You Go, found here.

BUSABOUT

Busabout has suspended departures right through until the end of 2021. “Just know we are doing everything we can to bring Busabout back in 2022 so you can continue to explore and travel Europe just the way you want to,” says the company. More details are here.

CIE TOURS

UPDATED JUNE 21, 2021: CIE Tours’ departures to Iceland are operational, but the company has suspended all departures to Italy and Ireland (including any combination tour that travels to Ireland) through July 2021 and all Britain tours through August 16, 2021. More information is at CIE’s Travel Update page.

COLLETTE

Collette is making decisions to either operate or cancel specific tour dates 30-45 days prior to the planned start date of the tour. At that time, Collette will contact guests to notify them of the status of their tour. For tours that have been cancelled, clients will be offered the option to either travel on a date and tour of their choice, or be provided a refund. Travellers can find the most up to date details of their tour by going to: Tour Status and Payment. Type in the booking number and last name when prompted. Further questions can be directed to customercare@collette.com. Also of note, departures to China will not operate in 2021. The 2020 Oberammergau Passion Play will begin in May 2022. For more information click here.

CONTIKI

Select Contiki trips have been suspended globally. “If your trip has been suspended our team will be in touch to discuss rebooking your trip,” says the company. Contiki has extended its COVID-19 vaccination policy until Dec. 31, 2022, for all adult guests. For the latest updates from Contiki, go to https://www.contiki.com/ca/en/resources/travel-alerts.

COSTSAVER

Costsaver is reviewing departures on a case-by-case basis. Should a trip be impacted and unable to operate, Costsaver is letting clients know that the booking agent will be in touch directly approximately 45-60 days prior to the trip’s planned start date. If A booked trip is suspended, clients will have a Future Travel Credit (FTC) automatically available for the full value of the land portion of the trip, to use for travel before Dec. 31, 2022. Costsaver has extended its COVID-19 vaccination policy until Dec. 31, 2022, for all adult guests. For more details go to costsavertour.com/en-ca/resources/coronavirus-travel-update.

EXODUS

Exodus has information for trip cancellations and rebooking at the Travel Disruption Advice page on its website. That page can be found at https://www.exodustravels.com/ca/travel-safety-advice.

G ADVENTURES

UPDATED AUG. 27, 2021: Of all the G Adventures tours departing in October 2021, 304 departures across 116 tours will operate as Vaccinated Tours and 64 departures will be designated as Travel-Ready. On Vaccinated Tours, all travellers and CEOs must have received a full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose administered at least 14 days prior to day one of the tour. On Travel-Ready tours, all travellers and CEOs must have either received a full COVID-19 vaccination, or have a negative PCR test within 96 hours prior to day one of their tour’s departure. A page on the company’s website outlines information about Where You Can Travel During COVID. And a FAQs page is here. Travel advisors with questions can call 1-877-277-9854 or email at experience@gadventures.com.

GATEWAYS INTERNATIONAL TAILOR-MADE TOURS

Citing the health and safety of its clients and team members, Gateways International temporarily closed its office in the wake of COVID-19. “Rest assured all staff will be working from home and will remain accessible by email to handle inquiries and issues,” said the company. Clients are encouraged to contact Gateways directly at sos@gateways-internationalc.om or email their dedicated specialist.

GLOBUS FAMILY OF BRANDS

UPDATED SEPT. 21, 2021: Globus’ resumption of international operations to many destinations is continuing through 2021 and beyond. Globus is operating hundreds of 2021 departures to open international destinations as well as a wide offering of domestic vacations.

Proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination is currently required for all Globus tours. Globus family of brands has extended its vaccination requirement for all guests through 2022.

For more info go to:

• Globus – https://www.globusjourneys.ca/travel-update/
• Cosmos – https://www.cosmosvacations.ca/travel-update/
• Monograms – https://www.monogramstravel.ca/travel-update/
• Avalon Waterways – https://www.avalonwaterways.ca/avalon-assurance/

GOWAY

Information about Goway’s Book with Confidence Commitment, Goway Travelmate program and other policies can be found at https://www.goway.com/goway-travel/our-policies/. 

HOLA SUN HOLIDAYS

Hola Sun’s COVID-19 updates, insurance coverage and policies can all be found at https://www.holasunholidays.ca/covid-19/.

INSIGHT VACATIONS

Insight Vacations is reviewing departures on a case-by-case basis. If a trip is impacted and unable to operate, Insight is advising travellers that their booking agent will be in touch directly approximately 45-60 days prior to the trip’s planned start date. If a booked trip is suspended, travellers will get a Future Travel Credit (FTC) automatically available to them for the full value of the land portion of their trip, to use for travel before Dec. 31, 2022. Insight has extended its COVID-19 vaccination policy until Dec. 31, 2022, for all adult guests. For details see https://www.insightvacations.com/ca/information/travel-update.

INTREPID

UPDATED AUG. 9, 2021: Intrepid Travel has extended the suspension of the majority of tours until at least Sept. 30, 2021. Guests who were booked on a suspended tour due to the pandemic will automatically receive a credit of 110% of monies paid (of their deposit or full payment). This excludes additional flights or insurance. The credit amount is 100% if the trip was booked during a sale promotion. Intrepid’s mandatory vaccination policy for all Intrepid travellers and tour leaders is effective Sept. 1, 2021. For more information go to https://www.intrepidtravel.com/ca/trip-suspensions.

LION WORLD

Lion World Travel is offering clients the option to postpone travel to as late as Dec. 9, 2022 (with some exceptions). Clients are asked to call 1-800-387-2706 to confirm their travel options if they wish to change, postpone or transfer their impacted trip.

If a client is uncertain about new travel dates, Lion World will issue a travel credit for any future travel with the company. Credit for issued airline tickets as well as all booked accommodations would remain with the same suppliers.

Standard cancellation penlties still apply to all bookings. To view booking terms and conditions click here.

For more information go to https://www.lionworldtravel.com/travel-alert.

LUXURY GOLD

Luxury Gold is reviewing departures on a case-by-case basis. If a trip is impacted and unable to operate, Insight is advising travellers that their booking agent will be in touch directly approximately 45-60 days prior to the trip’s planned start date. If a booked trip is suspended, travellers will get a Future Travel Credit (FTC) automatically available to them for the full value of the land portion of their trip, to use for travel before Dec. 31, 2022. Luxury Gold has extended its COVID-19 vaccination policy until Dec. 31, 2022, for all adult guests. For more details go to luxurygold.com/ca/information/travel-update.

QUARK EXPEDITIONS

With Quark Expeditions’ S.A.F.E. COVID-19 policy, ‘A’ stands for Anytime Cancellation & Rebooking. Guests can rebook their trip for any reason up to 30 days prior to the voyage, no questions asked. For Antarctica 2021/2022, this policy applies to all existing and new bookings made by Aug. 31, 2021. For Arctic 2022, the policy applies to all new bookings made as of May 1, 2021 through August 31, 2021. More details are here. Agents are also encouraged to visit Quark’s Partner Resource Centre for more details, or email guest@quarkexpeditions.com.

ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

UPDATED JULY 5, 2021: Rocky Mountaineer resumed operations on July 5, 2021. The company says it plans to ramp up operations through July to run its full schedule for August and beyond. However not all departures will operate in July and early August, due to ongoing travel and health restrictions. More details are here.

SUNWING

UPDATED JULY 30, 2021: Sunwing resumed partial service to select sun destinations from Toronto and Montreal on July 30. Sunwing’s initial lineup of destinations includes Cancun, Punta Cana, Varadero and Montego Bay. Sunwing’s latest travel updates can  be found here.

TAUCK

UPDATED JUNE 30, 2021: Tauck plans to resume full operations of all remaining 2021 itineraries during August and September. Tauck’s travel updates, health and safety policies, travel requirements, flexible payment terms and more can be found at https://www.tauck.ca/travel-updates.

TRAFALGAR

Trafalgar is reviewing departures on a case-by-case basis. If a trip is impacted and unable to operate, Insight is advising travellers that their booking agent will be in touch directly approximately 45-60 days prior to the trip’s planned start date. If a booked trip is suspended, travellers will get a Future Travel Credit (FTC) automatically available to them for the full value of the land portion of their trip, to use for travel before Dec. 31, 2022. Trafalgar has extended its COVID-19 vaccination policy until Dec. 31, 2022, for all adult guests. More details are at https://www.trafalgar.com/en-ca/resources/coronavirus-travel-update.

TRANSAT

UPDATED JULY 30, 2021: Transat restarted operations on July 30. Air Transat’s winter 2021-2022 flight program features flights to nearly 50 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, the U.S and Europe. Transat’s FTCs are fully transferable, with no expiry date.  More information for Transat can be found here.

WESTJET VACATIONS

UPDATED JUNE 25, 2021: WestJet is ready for summer 2021 with a long list of resumed flights. Complete details can be found here.

SUPPLIER UPDATE LISTS: