A Covid-safe coach company you can count on
Travel firm’s hopes for holidays without restrictions
If there is one industry that has been hit harder than most by Covid, it is the travel sector. Passengers have missed coach holidays during the winter lockdown but with the vaccination programme well under way holiday operators are looking forward to a successful spring and summer season.
And one travel firm that is planning ahead after a difficult year is Eclipse Breaks.
While some tour operators ceased trading altogether or laid off staff, Eclipse Breaks survived the toughest year in travel and has retained every member of its small, close-knit team.
And that’s not all, as the firm looked after all its customers during 2020 when all tours were cancelled between March and December, offering them a full refund, new travel date or credit note.
This excellent level of customer service is one you can expect from a coach company that offers a door-todoor collection service for its customers.
Kevin Miller, who has run Eclipse with Claire Macdonald since it was launched in 2013, is hopeful tours can start back up as early as the spring.
In fact, the company director anticipates a boom in May/june onwards and assures customers that they will, once again, have deposits refunded in full if the planned tours do not go ahead.
Kevin explained: “There is a worry about spending money on travel just now, especially as two of our biggest competitors ceased trading, so the first thing customers want to know is what happens to their money if a tour is cancelled.
“When all our tours were cancelled (from March to December) we offered customers a full refund, another date or a refund credit note and we will still be offering this.”
Another concern for travellers who may be planning a coach tour in 2021 is safety. Kevin reassures holidaymakers that safety is paramount, which is why Eclipse Breaks decided not to restart its tours during the Covid-19 outbreak last year.
Eclipse Breaks has launched its 2021 brochure and hopes for holidays without restrictions, particularly as the majority of its clients are older and will therefore have already received their first vaccination.
But until passengers have received their second dosage, “all guidelines will be followed to the letter” and “Eclipse will only run tours when it is safe to do so,” insists Kevin.
He added: “We played safe in 2020 because we only run tours when it is safe to do so.
“We won’t take chances because we put customers’ safety first.
“Our hope is that with the good news on distribution of the vaccine, we may get to a point where we don’t need social distancing or mask wearing on our coach tours.
“Until that happens, we have got ‘Good to Go’ accreditation from Visitscotland which means we have been assessed as a safe business and we will follow any social distancing policies in place at the time of travel – even if it means a coach running at 50% occupancy to space people out. We will also make sure all coaches, hotels and excursions have Covid-safety polices in place to provide a safe environment for customers.”
There is plenty to look forward to in 2021 if Eclipse Breaks’ brochure is anything to go by.
The most popular UK coach trips returning for 2021 include the Scenic Scotland tour at the Park Hotel in Montrose and the St Annes tour at Inn on the Prom, while Eclipse has introduced new locations, too, including City of York and Carmarthen & Golden Wales.
Deposits are still only £50 per person – to be refunded in full if trips are cancelled.
And, for those looking for a budget holiday in 2021, consider Eclipse’s Bargain Breaks – a value-for-money alternative whereby customers board their coach at the bus station (the door-to-door collection service is not available if booking a Bargain Break).
So customers are invited to put 2020 behind them and look to the future in which they can once again climb aboard a UK coach tour and enjoy all the longed-for and well-deserved trips that they missed out on last year.
Kevin added: “I would like to thank our customers for their patience in 2020 while we dealt with all their refunds. We have missed them and look forward to helping them choose their holidays for 2021.”