The Globus Family of Brands recently announced a new series of nine Undiscovered North America tours launching in 2021. The itineraries, created for the Globus and Cosmos brands, range from eight to 14 days, and feature exploration of national parks, emerging cities and small historic towns, as well as unique active adventures.
“What’s really nice about this portfolio is that you find really interesting options in the Pacific Northwest, the Southeast, the canyonlands in the Southwest — it really does a great job of touching so many different destinations,” said Cory McGillivray, marketing manager for the Globus Family of Brands. “The vacations are truly different, whether you want something historic — such as the Blue Ridge Mountains — or you want that quintessential New England experience in Cape Cod. That’s what’s really exciting about this portfolio.”
Following are the new itineraries, which include four brand-new tours from Globus and one from Cosmos.
Globus Bourbon, Bridles & Bluegrass (eight days)
Travelers start their journey in Kentucky with an evening of bluegrass entertainment; followed by visits to a centuries-old bourbon distillery; a Lexington thoroughbred horse farm; and more. The trip continues in the waterfront city of Chattanooga, Tenn., and includes guided sightseeing in Nashville.
Globus New England & The Hudson Valley (10 days)
This tour kicks off in Boston and nearby Lexington, Mass., the “Birthplace of American Liberty.” After learning about American Revolution-focused history, travelers will venture to Salem Mass., before heading to coastal Maine, rural New Hampshire and mountainous Vermont. This tour includes a visit to the Olympic Games site in Lake Placid, N.Y., Massachusetts’ picturesque Berkshire County and the orchard- and vineyard-dotted riverbanks of New York’s Hudson Valley (with stops in Tarrytown, the setting for Washington Irving’s story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point).
Globus Lost Canyons of the Southwest (nine days)
Travelers will experience the canyons and cultures of the American Southwest in Arizona, including traveling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a local Navajo guide at Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument. They will also take a guided Jeep tour in Sedona; visit Meteor National Landmark; tour Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home in Scottsdale; and marvel at the Grand Canyon. This journey also includes a visit to the Hoover Dam in Nevada.
Globus Southern California Charms (10 days)
This tour takes in the historic sites of Los Angeles before checking into the beachfront Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, Calif. The trip includes a margarita tasting in Old Town San Diego and wine tasting in the vineyard-rich region of Temecula, as well as an architectural tour of Palm Springs. Travelers will also do a Jeep tour through Joshua Tree National Park and have some beach time in Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara.
Cosmos Exploring the Pacific Northwest (9 days)
In addition to the sights of Seattle’s “Emerald City” and Portland’s “City of Roses,” the tour includes drinking in the alpine architecture and German beer in the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Wash.; touring the coastal city of Astoria, Ore.; and sampling any number of the two dozen breweries in Bend, Ore. Other experiences include a dune buggy ride along the Oregon Coast and visiting Mt. Hood’s 611-foot-tall Multnomah Falls and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.
Additional tours included in the “Undiscovered North America” portfolio are available to book in 2020. They include Globus Quebec in Depth With the Gaspe Peninsula (11 days); Cosmos Alaska & the Yukon (12 days); Cosmos Historic Trails & Blue Ridge Mountains (14 days); and Cosmos Western Canada With Inside Passage (13 days).
Clients love discovering small towns and villages on our Undiscovered tours in England, Italy and the Mediterranean, and that’s true right here in North America, as well.
“To us, this ‘Undiscovered’ product has three primary pillars: accessibility; drivability from a lot of our start and end cities; and they are just plain fun,” McGillivray said. “What we found as we built these tours is that there are a lot of cool experiences once you dive into these destinations a bit more. We’ve included four-wheeling with a Navaho guide; dune buggy-driving in Oregon; whale watching in Quebec; exploring icefields and more. Some of these things you may not even know we have in our own country.”
McGillivray points out that some suppliers may try to adjust their product offerings to add North America tours, but Globus has been working on this program for more than a year and built brand-new itineraries with some truly engaging undiscovered content. Plus, these itineraries visit mostly small towns instead of major cities, something that could be a major selling point given the coronavirus pandemic.
“Clients love discovering small towns and villages on our Undiscovered tours in England, Italy and the Mediterranean, and that’s true right here in North America, as well,” he said. “I grew up and spent 29 years in Virginia. But there are stops on the Blue Ridge Mountains tour that are an hour from where I lived that I didn’t even know existed.”
The company also recently announced its Peace of Mind travel plan. Under this complimentary program, clients can move vacations to any other 2021 or 2022 date, destination, itinerary or brand with no penalties as long as it is done before final payment is due.
“We understand that travel advisors may still be uncertain, and we want to give them peace of mind when booking,” McGillivray said. “If their clients are not comfortable with escorted touring, they can switch to Monograms or Avalon Waterways. We just want to make booking as risk-free, hassle-free and worry-free as possible.”
The Details
Globus Family of Brands
www.globusfamily.com