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Contact: Erin Mandzik
JConnelly
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emandzik@jconnelly.com
BACK-ROADS TOURING COMPANY RELAUNCHES AS BLUE-ROADS IN NORTH AMERICA
The Originator of the Small-Group Touring Experience Sets the Stage for Even Broader Expansion Globally
SANTA MONICA, Calif – Nov. 12, 2018 – Back-Roads Touring Company, one of the world’s premier small-group touring companies, has rebranded in North America, launching Blue-Roads Touring Company as part of the company’s global growth strategy. By creating a new brand that speaks to a distinctly American audience, Blue-Roads is helping to bring the small-group tour experience to life in this key market.
Founded in 1986, Back-Roads Touring Company built its brand and reputation through its U.K. and France tours, with a focus on World War I and II battlefield tours. Since then, the company has expanded its itineraries, selling European tours that offer authentic, one-of-a-kind experiences, from a taste of Tuscany to a Burgundy barge cruise, to a journey across Norwegian fjords, glaciers and waterfalls. Earlier this year, the company added its first Asian tours, with stops in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Back-Roads is also seeing considerable interest from North American passengers, part of the rationale for the rebrand.
“We see a lot of opportunity in North America,” said Ed Pettitt, general manager of Blue-Roads Touring, “North American travelers are placing a premium on authentic experiential-based travel, which has been our prime focus for more than three decades. Relaunching and expanding our presence in North America is key to successfully building the business across all markets globally.”
The Blue-Roads Touring Company name is inspired by American historian and travel writer William Least Heat-Moon, who set out on a 13,000-mile journey with his Rand McNally atlas, vowing only to take the routes marked in blue. Without even knowing it, he had coined a new phrase: blue roads, which describes that coastal road, winding way, side street or country road.
Focusing on quality over quantity, Blue-Roads takes travelers off-the-beaten-path, from truffle hunting in LaBelle, France to a visit to Switzerland’s last alphorn-maker’s workshop. The brand is also a leader in culinary experiences, taking food-lovers to hidden-gem restaurants and beyond—places like Tenuta Seliano, a farm in Capaccio-Paestum, Italy, where guests watch a baronessa make fresh mozzarella and participate in a farm-fresh cooking class.
With a maximum of 14-to-18 passengers per tour, groups travel in specially built mini-coaches like Mercedes-Benz Sprinters while staying in properties that mirror the local surroundings, from charming boutique hotels to majestic castles.
As part of the rebrand, Blue-Roads is launching a website and has created new social channels and marketing collateral—all of which speaks to the North American traveler’s unique needs and interests.
About Blue-Roads Touring Company
Blue-Roads Touring Company, part of the Back-Roads Touring Company family, is a leader in custom, small-group travel across the U.K., Europe and Asia. For 30 years, Back-Roads Touring Company has been helping its guests make memories to last a lifetime, catering to everyone from history buffs to oenophiles and offering a mix of organized activities coupled with free time to roam and explore. With each tour capped at 18 passengers (14 for Asia tours), Blue-Roads curates custom, off-the-beaten-track experiences, taking guests beyond the typical tourist destinations. Catering to middle-aged and mature travelers, the company—named “Best Small Coach Travel Agency” by the British Travel Awards for three years in a row— is synonymous with local knowledge, sustainable tourism, culinary excellence, and authentic and premium boutique accommodations.
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