Tour Operators Proceed Carefully During Relaunch of Pandemic-Paused Tours

Multi-day tour operators were, like just about all other segments of the travel industry, battered by the pandemic as they largely had to cancel trips they scheduled for the latter half of 2020. But as destinations have reopened for tourism, many tour operators have been able to resume tours this year as they've meticulously prepared for the moment they could take travelers overseas. However, as Covid variants are still spreading throughout the world, executives at tour operators still need to take many steps to prevent customers from coming home with an unwanted souvenir. Many tour operators — such as Abercrombie & Kent — have used the hiatus to prepare new offerings. The luxury tour operator announced on Thursday a parternship with private aviation firm Wheels Up to offer members of the latter company numerous travel opportunities, such as a 12-day trip to East Africa next January as well as customized tours of U.S. national parks. Meanwhile, executives at several tour operators have seen enormous demand for their first post-pandemic trips. CIE Tours CEO Elizabeth Crabill is one of them. "Once Iceland opened to vaccinated Americans, demand shot up, and the first departure was completely sold out," she said about her company's first tour in more than 15 months. "We even had to add extra inventory for the next few months to accommodate