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White Rose Tours specialise in full european, weekend and short break UK motorcycle touring holidays.

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December 2016

Created: 03 Dec 2016
Dec 03

The calendar tells me it is some 2 months since I last wrote anything in the blog, I really do not know where time goes. (picture - Chamonix, French Alps Tour 2016)

However, I have not been idle. We got our 2017 tour season details out earlier than usual and I am pleased to say that we have had an excellent response. Three tours are fully booked, another almost full and we have a good number on all the others.  We have the annual problem of not been able to get enough single rooms from the hotels, but I am afraid that is out of our hands.

Well quite a lot has happened this year, not all for the good when it comes to running motorcycles tours out of the country. I am of course referring to the dramatic falls in the currency exchange due to Brexit and the strengthening of the dollar partially due to the surprise election of Mr Trump and family.

The currency exchange rate is probably the one factor that affects us the worst and when you consider we were using €1.25 = £1 for 2016 and are using €1.10 for 2017 this increases costs considerably which unfortunately is reflected in tour costs to you the customer. However, as always we will keep costs down as much as possible without sacrificing the quality.

When Brexit was announced in June we anticipated a fall in exchange rate and so have biased the tours for 2017 a little more towards the UK where obviously we are not affected. Having said that, we have wanted to take a group across to the Outer Hebrides for many years and so this seemed an excellent time to do it.  We have had to run the tour twice due to restrictions on the number of bikes we can get on the ferry, but that is no bad thing as June and early September I think are two good times to tour that part of the world.

I am a little miffed that I will not get chance to be on the tour, I had originally intended doing the September one, but such was the demand for Croatia that  I decided to run that again and of course the dates clash. Having said that we have altered things around a little and I will get to take those who have booked to the Plitvice Lakes. When I first did the recon for this tour many years ago, this was one of the places I visited and enjoyed, so are glad that we are finally managing to return.

Our final tour of this year was a weekend in the Lakes and Dales, yes we were blessed with great weather, but I think it surprised quite a few regular riders who perhaps had forgotten what great scenery and roads we have here in the North.

Of course this is where we first started 20 years ago so it an area we have toured for many years, but due to touring abroad rarely get chance to re-visit it. Determined to put this right, I have created and will be guiding, a tour called ‘White Rose Special’ which will be running from Sunday 16th to Sunday 23rd July. The tour will take in all the ‘best bits’ of an area from the Yorkshire Dales in the south to the Scottish Borders. Great scenery, places, roads and accommodation I am already looking forward to it, and hope you can join us.  

When it comes to motorcycle touring holidays, there is no doubt that things are changing. Most riders now have satellite navigators, which along with ability to book accommodation on sites such as Booking.com and finding routes on websites or in motorcycle magazines can organise their own tour.  

There is a lot to be said for this as it gives you the freedom to ‘go your own way’ - thankfully for companies such as ours many people prefer us to do all the work, secure in the knowledge that everything is organised for them and all they need do is relax and enjoy the ride. Above all, people enjoy the social side of things; there is nothing better than enjoying the banter, meal and drink or two with like-minded people in the evening.

This year has seen several changes regarding some of the tour companies that have been around even longer than us. If my information is correct Alistair McFarlane of MCI tours has sold his business and retired, the business continues, but is now in new hands.

2016 also saw Peter Avard of MSL tours announce that he was retiring, whether his company has been bought and will continue I do not know.

Both Peter and Alistair were involved together in the magazine business many years before splitting to form MCI tours and MSL tours. At that time there was very few companies organising motorcycle tours and they became market leaders in their field.  When I started in 1996, both Peter and Alistair were supportive and always freely gave advice regarding any possible pitfalls. I hope they both enjoy their retirements – they deserve it.

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