Globetrotting motorcycle tours are finally making a return, after a long hiatus during and post-Covid. In a symbolic move, Globebusters, probably the best known of the mega-tour operators, set off on their biggest tour since Covid in late July, a 22,000-mile epic across the Americas from Alaska to Patagonia. And in a sign that adventure motorcyclists are ready to travel again, the 142-day tour was sold out – and that was at a cool £37,995 per person.

Globebusters was founded over 20 years ago by Kevin and Julia Sanders, who before they got into the tour business, set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest time across America, two-up. Globebusters proved a success, tapping into the desire for some (well-heeled) bikers to have an adventure, but with someone else taking care of routes, hotel bookings and back up.
Covid put paid to all that, as Kevin and Julia told MCN. “Within weeks we had to take the decision to cancel Trans Americas 2020…The rest of 2020 and 2021 just became a rolling succession of cancellations, refunds and putting out new dates for tours, which then ended up being cancelled…There was so much pent-up demand for this (Trans-Americas) route, so we set 2023 for the year to bring it back.”

Solo overland travellers have also bounced back since Covid, with many carrying on where they left off, and travel-themed festivals this summer such as the ABR, the Adventure Travel Film Festival and the Armchair Travel Festival all attracted big crowds.

Jim Freeman, Chair of the BMF, added: “I can see why the travel themed festivals have been doing well, if you haven’t been able to do it yourself, for several years, scoping out the possibilities is going to be very attractive. Mind you, at nearly 40K a pop, Globebusters are very much prime market operators. Good luck to them! I’m afraid that many of us will be wondering whether we can cover the mortgage and keep the kids in shoes, while we can just about insure, tax and MOT the [t]rusty heap, never mind riding adventures lasting the best part of half a year.…”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Globebusters