Exceptional Tours Knoxville, TN

16/12/2020

It is sad news to report that Exceptional Tours will no longer be in business. This year has not been good to small business and ours is yet another casualty. Social distancing is impossible on a bus trip like ours and the casino is yet to let us know when we would be accepted again. The costs incurred will not allow us to be able to continue any future trips. Although we were not able to travel this year the business license costs along with what we have to pay to the casino yearly, which doubled in the beginning of 2020, just doesn't make good business sense. Frankie and Jim started this company nearly 20 years ago and made a lot of friends along the way. We will miss everyone that has been able to travel with us, but this decision to close was not taken lightly. We are proud to be a part of the O'Connor Senior Center and the support they always gave us. We are also proud of the money we were able to donate that we gave after every trip to the center. Our support to the Center will still continue, and we encourage everyone to what you can in support there.

In closing, we are truly saddened by the decision and we wish all our friends the best. We will miss the trips as much as everyone....

Best wishes,
TC and Frankie

25/09/2020

Exceptional Tours Knoxville, TN Thanks for the questions. The last we heard they are still not accepting large tour buses like ours. There was some talk about possibly at the end of this month but no further updates at this time. Sorry. Also, there has been concerns with social distancing on the bus itself. We have always tried to have a full bus of at least 50 people, but don't always meet that goal. Our break even point is around having 44 people paid for each trip. That covers the bus, snack bags, etc. We have had as few as 30 people on our trips at certain times of the year and those months we are out of pocket. Some years are better than others so it works out since we enjoy our trips with our bus friends as well. We have also paid our "tour bus fee" to Harrah's even though they did go up this year but have only been able to have the earlier trips we had. Thanks for reaching out to us and as soon as we hear something or make future plans we will post it here first. Thanks again.

13/06/2020

We are sorry to announce that we have received word from the casino that it has suspended all bus tours like ours for the time being. The casino is open for limited business but not for groups such as ours. This is taken directly from what we received.......

Good Morning,

This past week we have worked diligently on a plan to start bringing bus groups back to our casinos in July. Unfortunately, the necessary safety precautions we must adhere to prevent us from being able to effectively process bus groups. I realize that this news is difficult to all that have been so loyal in bringing guests here, but we are not in a position to properly service your guests. I can assure you that we will be in touch to schedule your groups as soon as we are able to resume operations, but for the foreseeable future we must continue to suspend bus arrivals.
I have spoken to several bus operators, group leaders, and owners, and was delighted to hear their plans to incorporate any necessary safety precautions on their vehicles. Please feel free to email me any safety ideas that you plan to incorporate for your riders, as we continue to work on a plan to resume bus arrivals.
Thank you for everything that you do, and I hope to see you in the coming months.

We miss all of our friends and guests. We will continue to let you know of any changes that we know about. Please stay safe and we look forward to traveling with you soon we hope.

25/05/2020

We will not be hosting the Casino Trip in July due to circumstances beyond our control. You may be aware that although the Casino is open..... I received an invitation in my email yesterday. It read as if the casino is not totally open yet but will be limited to social distancing in all areas of the resort as some other changes are in place also. We have decided to forgo the July date but are diligently working to get a date for August. The first Tuesday in August is an election day so we will NOT be going on that Tuesday. Stay tuned here on Facebook for the actual date. The O'Connor Senior Center also remains closed for now. Sorry about the delays....

20/05/2020

We hope this is finding everyone safe and sound. It has been a few months of disappointment and stress for us and are ready to jump back in with our monthly trips. We know everyone has been patiently waiting and we thank you for bearing with us. The casino is trickling information to us and they are open....... but not like we remember it. As we move forward the decision was made not to schedule our June 9 trip. We feel this will give the casino and staff some time to work through any "now open" pains they may encounter. Our next planned trip is scheduled for July 7, 2020. We will be working towards getting that trip planned with notifications to the casino as well as getting the bus locked down. We should be making the decision within this week. Unfortunately, we do not know the future of the O'Connor Center reopening schedule either. Please stay tuned and we will try to share information as we get it.

13/03/2020

The top priority at Exceptional Tours is the safety and the well-being of our guests and team members. Since the onset of COVID-19, we have followed the guidance of federal, state, and local authorities. As of today, many states have declared a state of emergency and are recommending that all non-essential gatherings of large groups be postponed or canceled.

Given that direction, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend the operations of Exceptional Tours and we WILL NOT be hosting the scheduled APRIL 07 casino trip.

We will closely monitor the latest developments and follow the guidance from federal, state, and local officials.

We will continue to communicate with you as we know more. On behalf of everyone at Exceptional Tours, thank you for your trust in us.

TC & Frankie Hicks

08/03/2020

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19/02/2020

25/01/2020

We hope everyone is doing well. The weather has still been a bit crazy around here, but we have plans to resume our monthly trips. Mark your calendars for March 10, 2020. Many of you have already contacted Frankie, but if you haven't and want to reserve your seat call her at 865-525-1475 or fill out a reservation and pay at the front desk of the O'Connor Senior Center. Frankie rarely ever gets online these days and that is why it is important to call her directly. We hope to see you all on March 10, 2020.

14/12/2019

We want to thank each and everyone that have traveled over the mountain with us in 2019. We had a lot of fun as we always try to do on each and every trip. Even with the November snow cancellation, we were able to gather some special prizes for everyone on the December trip. We also have been getting a lot of new riders these days and we thank all of you as well. We look forward to starting the 2020 season in March, as the weather in January and February are highly unpredictable. We hope to see you then!

09/12/2019

Our trip for December 10 is still going. Unfortunately several people have had to cancel for illness or personal reasons which has opened up a few seats. If you want to go with us and haven't reserved your seat yet, give Frankie a call 865-525-1475. The more the merrier and if you are one that had to cancel we look forward to joining us back in 2020......