It’s another delay for the Rocky Mountaineer season in Canada because of continuing travel restrictions and uncertainty of when it will be eased.
The 2021 season is now expected to get underway on July 5, instead of the previously announced June 1.
“We are extremely disappointed to be forced to delay the start of our season, but we remain very optimistic about restarting travel in July,” founder and interim CEO Peter Armstrong said.
“Our team is eagerly working to prepare our trains for operations and we all look forward to getting back to what we do best, which is hosting guests for an incredible experience on board our trains.”
In Canada, the Rocky Mountaineer relies heavily on international tourists with an estimated economic spin-off of nearly $50 million in Kamloops in a normal year with train guests spending a night in the Tournament Capital.
“We’ve had to really rethink a lot of our operating procedures to make sure that we have safe operating procedures, and at the same time, we’ve had to sort of change our marketing and sales focus,” Chief Operating Officer, Mark Southern told NL News. “We recognize no matter what happens with border restrictions, it’s going to be tough to get international guests here. This year, we need them from Canada.”
“We’ve got very aggressive with marketing and sales for Canadian residents, for B.C. and Alberta residents. Everybody could use a vacation on the Rocky Mountaineer. We’d love to have you.”
Kamloops mayor Ken Christian previously told NL News he’s pleased to see the Rocky Mountaineer planning on resuming this year after suspending operations in 2020, but he’s not expecting it to be a normal season.
“This has been a product that has predominantly been picked up by international travellers, not so much Canadian travellers, so I think what they’re trying to do is shift a bit in terms of their marketing and see if they can get a semblance of the service back in play,” he said.
As previously announced, the company says people affected by the delayed start in Canada will be given a future travel credit equivalent to 110 per cent of the amount they paid. Further, rail prices for the 2021 and 2022 seasons will not increase, according to the company.
It also says people will be allowed to change their departure dates without any penalties up to 30 days ahead before departure.
“COVID had such a traumatic impact on us and the whole tourism industry. We had to lay off so many employees, now we’re trying to get the trains up and running and let get [those people] back to work and lets do what Rocky Mountaineer does best – run trains,” Southern added.
“Our great partners in Kamloops have always supported us.”
For more information on the 2021 Rocky Mountaineer season, go here.
