Bakers Dolphin has completed a £1 million investment in two high-specification Irizar i8 integral coaches for its Gold Service holiday fleet (pictured, centre and right).
The arrivals follow success with the Gold approach for the Weston-super-Mare operator. While those tours are slightly more expensive than others, Sales and Marketing Director Amanda Harrington says they have “proved hugely popular as people love the comfort.” Gold departures visit locations within the UK and further afield.
Specification includes what the operator calls a small on-board bistro with a customer host. The newcomers additionally pilot an onboard entertainment system to show Bakers Dolphin customised content including TV shows, films, music, live radio, and more.
Travellers will either bring their own tablet or be supplied with one onboard the coaches. The operator will deploy the system on some Christmas tours and then roll it out across the rest of its seven-strong Gold fleet in summer 2025.
The new Irizars will be used for the first time on pre-Christmas departures. They are also each equipped with a camera monitoring system in lieu of gullwing mirrors.
Seat numbers are reduced on Gold vehicles to permit additional legroom. Each position in the new coaches is “even more comfortable” than earlier examples and those two vehicles have improved coffee machines and wi-fi along with charging points.
Bakers Dolphin debuted the new Gold coaches at its 31st annual customer reunion weekend recently, when 120 people spent a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon with entertainment and a trip on the Shakespeare Express train.
Feedback from that event is now being used by the operator to perfect its holidays for next year.
