The world is consumed with fever over Covid-19, and there are many side effects. Recreational bicycle touring is taking a big hit and the entire tour industry is in danger of collapse. In light of this, I though it would be good to look at a timeline of the first 100 days of 2020. Let’s examine how tour operators may have been prepared for this, and consider what the future might hold.

I was out of the USA on a cruise ship from January 18 through February 5. One clear memory from that trip is the shipboard news feed talking about Corona virus. We knew there was the potential negative impact on travel and the economy. Air travel from China was halted on January 31 and a few weeks later for most of Europe. We all hoped this would provide some protection.

For many US bike tour operators, normal tour bookings continued until the end of February. At Bike Tour Vacations we were on track to match 2019, our best year ever. Then the wheels fell off.

Early March brought a flood of bad news stories. Next, social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders started to come out. Tour and group ride cancellations or postponements came in at a furious pace. The  Tour of the Scioto River Valley , the  Horsey Hundred,   Cycle Zydeco  and  Dirty Kanza,   and the Tour of Minnesota are just a few of the name-brand events who have made cancellation or postponement plans. Even the Tour de France, cycling’s premier racing event, is postponed.

Most of the cancelled tours listed above are big events with financial commitments due well in advance of the event date. There are many moving pieces, and both travel restrictions and fear of illness contributed to these cancellations. One advantage for small tour operators like Bike Tour Vacations is the ability to react quickly. Regardless of tour size, cancellation is problem for all of us and raises several questions. How do tour operators decide to cancel? What criteria come into play?

Education and training conferences are common in the travel industry, and since 2011 I’ve attended over a dozen of these events:

At each of these events, the main focus was always on safety. Dozens of topics were covered, from traffic safety to crisis management, food safety, medical staff needs, medical emergencies, dangerous weather, and more.

One topic to receive minor attention was the threat of infectious disease. Zika and Ebola virus had been mentioned at ETC, yet both were relatively short-lived threats when they occurred. The discussion of widespread infection like we see now with Covid-19 was incomprehensible. The public health risk and financial risk for tour operators were not discussed.

After the call I developed a series of questions to help decide if touring is safe; any ‘No’ answer to any question is sufficient to cancel a tour. These questions fall into three broad categories: Public health; Logistics/accommodations; and Staff preparedness.

Public health : Have travel restrictions (both by air and by auto) and group size limits been removed? Are we able to have our tour visit a community and not be a threat or burden to local emergency services? Can our guests and staff avoid infection?

Logistics : Will our lodging partners be able to provide their standard level of service? Will restaurants, caterers, or tour staff be able to feed the tour group?

Staff Preparedness : Is the tour staff trained for a safe and proper response to this issue?

I’ve looked for relief from our travel insurance partners. Unfortunately their policies have exclusions if government action (travel restrictions) force an event to be cancelled. Most business liability policies also will not cover this loss, so tour operators and their guests are on their own! Many events publish standard terms & conditions covering this type of risk which generally deny refunds for calamities such as Covid-19. After the first wave of cancellations and travel disruptions occurred, I amended the Bike Tour Vacation policy specifically for Covid-19. If we cancel a tour for health safety reasons, we’ll send a full refund to each participant.

Here’s a timeline of our communication via email and on the website:

In addition, we’re searching for new guidelines to help keep staff and guests safe on future tours.

We now have several decision dates for our summer tours: May 1 we decide on The Kal-Haven, White Pine, and Grand Traverse Tours. June 10 is the date to decide on our July events including River Towns, North Shore, and Great Waters tours. On June 30 we’ll know the fate of the remaining tours- Ride to Pictured Rocks, and Niagara Shores.

It’s likely that events will be smaller, and probably fewer in number. Our guests will have to learn how to travel again in baby steps.

What are your thoughts? Did you change your view of bicycle touring or travel because of this pandemic? If your tour or event is cancelled this summer, do you expect to be back in 2021? Please send your comments to jim@biketourvacations.com. Thanks!

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