TORONTO —With itinerary names like ‘Boogie & Blues,’ and ‘The Bold & The Brewtiful,’ you can bet that Globus’ brand new touring style isn’t your average way to see the sights.

Announced today and launching in September 2021, ‘Choice Touring by Globus’ comprises 13 new itineraries in Europe and North America that focus on fun, and more importantly, flexibility, with YourChoice Excursions – a selection of curated experiences – built into the price.

According to Stéphanie Bishop, managing director of Globus family of brands, the idea for the new touring style came about from a post-pandemic survey by Mintel Research, which found that 55% of potential touring and adventure customers now regard flexibility of itinerary as a critical success factor.

“There is a rising importance of flexibility within an itinerary, now considered just as important as a traditional sightseeing tour,” said Bishop during a media briefing this morning. “One of the silver linings of current circumstances is that our team was able to rethink and redesign journeys that had been deprived of freedom. So we posed ourselves a question: what if there was a tour operator that could design a tour with freedom, flexibility and choice built into the tour? With that, we’re so excited to introduce Choice Touring by Globus, which allows travellers to choose their days, their way. It’s the right time and the best time to launch this.”

The 13 new itineraries are as follows:

• Hot Tam! Scotland by Design (9 days from Edinburgh to Glasgow)
• Green With Envy: Ireland by Design (8 days from Dublin to Limerick)
• Oh My Goddess! Greece by Design (8 days)
• The Alps Out Loud: Switzerland & Lake Como By Design (8 days from Zurich to Como)
• Veni, Vidi, Vici: Umbria & Tuscany By Design (8 days)
• Rocks & Rhythm: Portugal By Design (8 days)
• Toasting & Coasting: Portugal & Spain By Design (9 days)
• From The Top: Western Canada By Design: (8 days starting in Vancouver)
• Mad About Mounties: Eastern Canada By Design (7 days from Toronto to Montreal)
• Boogie & Blues: The Southern U.S. By Design (8 days from New Orleans to Nashville)
• California Dreamin’: Northern California By Design (9 days)
• Sunny Days, Starry Nights: America’s Rocky Mountains by Design (8 days)
• The Bold & The Brewtiful: Mid-Atlantic America By Design (9 days)

On average, across all Choice Tours, there will be 2-4 days that will be designated as ‘Choice days,’ during which guests can choose from 2-3 excursions each time at no extra cost. These YourChoice Excursions can be selected ahead of time and include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Inverness: Castles and clan seals or coasting on two wheels?
• Siena: Feast on fresh homemade pasta or pedal through Florence air:
• Sacramento: Sing Folsom blues or feed hometown roots?
• Eastern Townships: Sail scenic waters or sip sparkling wines?
• Yellowstone: Hike below falls or rise above a mountain village?

Though Globus’ international operations remain paused until the end of May, Bishop feels “quite confident” that it will be able to operate tours this summer, ahead of ‘Choice Touring by Globus’ September launch. Saying that the brand has been very diligent and conscientious with regard to operations, the “next big decision” will be about June operations, which will be made shortly as the global situation evolves.

Bishop is, however, feeling encouraged by feedback from travel advisors and agency owners, who she says are feeling “far more enthusiastic about everything,” particularly as Canada’s vaccination program begins to ramp up. With Globus’ Canadian campaign “going quite well,” Bishop says that the two Canadian-specific itineraries in the new touring lineup will offer Canadians who have decided not to travel across the pond this year more choice and flexibility.

“Certainly this summer will be an opportunistic summer in terms of travel within Canada and we feel like we’ve got a fantastic portfolio in place,” she says. “I think the two Canadian itineraries will be very well received, over and above our current Canada campaign. There are lots of choices available for our Canada campaign and once this new initiative starts in September, Canadians will have more choice to experience a tour.”

With regard to international bookings, Bishop anticipates a “real big switch” to occur in about a month’s time, with more Canadians looking abroad for future travel.

“Will all Canadians decide to book? No one has that crystal ball but we feel quite confident that we can salvage 2021 and moving in to 2022, the year’s looking quite robust,” she says.

Travellers who book a Choice Touring vacation early can save up to 10%. Click here for details.

For more information go to agentlingo.ca or click here to watch Globus’ new promotional video.