Big Bus Tours will continue to expand by launching in three to four new cities a year, the company’s CEO Alex Payne has revealed.
The tour company has added four new locations to its roster in the past 12 months – Dublin, Singapore, Los Angeles and Berlin – bringing the number of cities it operates in to 23.
“We are driven by market size and will also look into opportunities to acquire existing operations,” said Payne.
Big Bus Tours will also focus on “transforming the business to become more digital”, with forthcoming initiatives including real-time bus tracking on the company’s free app; installing onboard scanning for a more efficient passenger boarding process; and direct integration with trade partners such as Booking.com, Viator and Get Your Guide.
More growth is intended for the company’s new Global Partner Booking Platform, through which 40% of partners now channel bookings.
The new platform has helped the company work more closely with smaller players too, said Payne: “[It] has allowed our smaller partners who are unable to complete an API integration, regardless of where they are based in the world, to take advantage of key benefits derived from an API integration.”
Attracting MICE audiences and the global group travel market is also high on the agenda, said Payne.
“Group travel is a key focus, especially in major group destination cities including Dubai, London, Sydney and Singapore, which perform especially well in the student and MICE sectors.”