CTA’s second Open Zoom meeting took place this week with chair John Wales reporting that operators and suppliers had shown their positivity and creativity in getting some tours and excursions going again despite the challenges.

The discussion in this session centred on the need for continued close dialogue between operators, hotel and other suppliers in the face of regulations and guidelines which provide something of a moving target.

Anu Desai, ITO Tours, singled out English Heritage as a good example of a supplier member which is accommodating coach groups safely and effectively, and he had also had excellent support from hotel groups.

There were reports that some hotels are introducing new measures, including requiring coach guests to have dinner earlier, in view of the introduction of the 10pm ‘curfew’ and this reinforces the need for close dialogue with operators and maximum flexibility by suppliers to enable tours to continue safely and continue to provide high levels of service.

It was suggested that operators and hotels agree detailed contracts which identify precisely what is expected from both sides and how it will be delivered.

Many suppliers have continued to support coach groups since reopening and Mark Mattinson, City Cruises, reported that its tours in London, York and Poole are all operating and welcoming coach bookings. He pointed to the value of receiving detailed passenger lists and groupings in advance which enables pre-planing of the seating plan onboard. The York Christmas market is currently still planning to go ahead, although it may introduce a ticketing process to control numbers.

Jane McKay, Shakespeare Distillery, reported that they are able to accept groups of up to 24 at one time and is offering to hold its rates in 2021 for all CTA members.

The temporary change in VAT for the hospitality sector was raised in the discussion. Marriott confirmed that its hotels are passing on the VAT reduction, and Almarose Hotels is passing it on for new group bookings.

Another sign of the challenges involved in organising tours within the current guidelines focused on entertainment being provided. This is a key factor in some festive tours and hotels and venues are now looking at their procedures to see how this may be delivered where it is permitted. [There may be different rules on live entertainment in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.]

David Smith Travel has successfully operated recent tours to Blackpool where hotels have been offering entertainment in recent weeks, although the evening events are now starting earlier to accommodate the 10pm close.

In order to demonstrate that coach tours and excursions were taking place, it was agreed that CTA would aim to collate information from operators about the number of passengers carried since tours restarted to help build confidence among consumers. (A link to an online survey will be emailed to operators shortly.)