Shearings expands horizons as over 50s seek to travel further

Shearings Holidays has announced a collection of new worldwide tours and cruises as part of its 2011 programme, as consumers demand a wider range of holidays to choose from.

Australia, Canada and New York are among the destinations available in Shearings’ latest brochures, which offer over 40 new UK & Ireland tours, over 20 new European tours and 11 worldwide tours.

Shearings has also chartered the mv Discovery for three exclusive cruises, taking in the Norwegian fjords, Baltic capitals and the British Isles. The company’s river cruise programme has also been expanded, exclusively chartering five river cruise vessels, including the brand new 4-star MPS Da Vinci.

The launch marks the company’s latest step in its evolution from traditional coach operator to over-50s specialist tour operator.

Caroline Brown, commercial director for Shearings, said: “We’ve commissioned a huge amount of research on what the over-50s market is looking for.

“We discovered that, while holidays by coach are still very popular, today’s over-50s are looking for a wider range of options, especially long-haul escorted tours and cruises. We’ve listened to the market and responded accordingly by expanding and diversifying our holiday packages.

“Our product range now spans from the traditional escorted tour, which we are renowned for, to a wide range of diverse flight, rail and cruise holidays across the UK, Europe and beyond.”

To celebrate the launch of its new brochures, Shearings has liveried four coach rears, each portraying a theme of its new concept “Tour, Fly, Cruise, Explore”, highlighting the diversity of holidays and destinations on offer.

Caroline added: “We want to encourage people to take a fresh look at Shearings as we now offer so much more than just great coach tours.”