The Explorer Bus was placed into hibernation at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in late March, as NSW was placed into lockdown.

But since the return of regional travel in June, Mr Redpath said the business has been flat out providing tours for private and small groups.

READ ALSO: Some 500 tourists boarded the Bathurst Explorer Bus throughout 2019

"All our tours at the moment are small and pre-booked with a detailed COVID-safe plan in place," Mr Redpath said.

"The problem with the Explorer Bus is the randomness of people hopping on, and we didn't want it becoming another Thai Rock restaurant situation."

Mr Redpath said the decision to hibernate the Explorer Bus was based on the direction of similar services across the globe.

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He said the popularity of smaller tours has helped fine tune a number of services provided by the tours.

"The original Explorer Bus route was a one-hour, hop on/hop off service, but the smaller tours have allowed us to extend that to a two-hour, more detailed tour of Bathurst," he said.

"Our wine tours have been very popular as well, and I think many customers appreciate being able to book the service for themselves and a group of friends."

Mr Redpath said the private tours are catering for 45 to 55 people a week on average.

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He said Explorer Bus services will be ready to return once it's safe to do so.

"We're just waiting for the right mechanism to get it going again and when it does, we'll probably continue that two-hour, pre-booked tour format complete with QR code sign in and proper hygiene precautions," he said.

"The Bathurst Visitor Information Centre and council have been hugely supportive of us, and with international travel facing an uncertain period, we anticipate more and more people will take in the beauty of this region."

For more, visit www.bathurstexplorerbus.com.au.