In February 2020 we had groups and staff returning from a multitude of trips across Europe and beyond. Little did we know at that time what was about to hit us. The tidal wave that was a pandemic had just started to tentatively knock on the world’s doors. Never could we have imagined that those trips would indeed be the last we would see go out for over a year.
It’s hard to put into words the journey our business and staff have been on over the last 18 months. The challenges were monumental. We issued customer refunds amounting to 5.2 million pounds and our teams successfully postponed over 250 tours. An astounding 35,000 customer’s tour plans were affected.
Writing this some 18 months later, with a documented roadmap out of the pandemic, facilitated by a ground breaking vaccine programme, we can finally see the world’s doors beginning to open and group travel having life breathed back into it!
With concert groups being deprived of performance opportunities for such a long period of time, we are now seeing the early signs of unprecedented demand returning for concert tours in 2022/23.
Regular touring groups are returning with a desire to recreate their previous tours, as they know only too well the benefits of touring and how these experiences are needed more than ever before.
On the flip side, we are seeing new groups deciding to take the leap into touring internationally for the first time. It’s great that we’re able to discuss with them how we kept customers’ best interests at the heart of everything we did over the last year or so. It instils confidence in planning a future tour with Rayburn Tours.
There is no doubt the performance community will bounce back to being stronger and more adventurous than ever before – and we can’t wait to play our part in that journey.
Our specialist concert tours team are always happy to discuss the touring possibilities for you and your ensemble. Call 01332 347828 or visit www.rayburntours.com and let’s start planning together, confidently.
Trust you’re in safe hands. We’ve proven it.