Former Kuoni boss Sue Biggs is returning to travel with the launch of Royal Horticultural Society Holidays in partnership with Collette Worldwide Holidays.
Biggs, who was managing director of Thomas Cook’s scheduled business until 2009, joined the Royal Horticultural Society in 2010 as director general.
RHS is to introduce a programme of 10 specialist horticultural tours in conjunction with Collette Worldwide. It will be launched in October for travel from March next year. The brochure will be sent to RHS members but agents will also be able to sell the tours to green-fingered clients.
Speaking at the launch of the new venture at Hampton Court Flower Show this week, Biggs told Travel Weekly: “There are 20 million gardeners in this country. You’ve got plenty of companies that offer the odd day trip to gardens, but if they’re public gardens, we’ll get access after hours, and if they are private, then we’ll be able to get into them as part of our international membership.”
The tours, which will be graded on how in-depth they are, will take place in Europe, South Africa and New Zealand.
Biggs said: “This is a really exciting development for the RHS. We know from research with our members that there is a strong demand for holidays with a horticultural focus. With my background in travel, combined with my role at the RHS, it is an area I’ve always been keen to develop.”
Collette general manager Peter Traynor said: “There is great demand in the escorted tour marketplace for holidays that revolve around specific fields of interest.”