Top Deck #21

Stage II/Issue 21

Locally written, globally distributed

The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge

The Authentic Experience

London M T W t a re u s o p x E t / Trade Shows Grea Seville & l o s s a im L s n o ti a n / Desti In this issue. AthensLimassolSevilleBrightonLimassolOrlandoNew YorkBelfastLas Palmas de Gran CanariaMoscowMalagaBudapestEdinburghGlasgow

TopDeck Magazine | nÂş18 | Enero 2018

Message from Enrique Ybarra President & CEO City Sightseeing Worldwide

Seville, Spain. The home of the first ever City Sightseeing operation which started on the 31st of March 1999

Dear Friends, This year is a very exciting year for the entire City Sightseeing network, as 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of our global brand. As we begin this special year, we find ourselves in a privileged position thanks to your operations providing amazing customer experiences, along with the continuos developments and promotions

by City Sightseeing Worldwide. Without a doubt, this year is sure to be filled with countless opportunities and exciting milestones.

For the 20th Anniversary, we are planning a wide array of activities, events, and campaigns that will take place in different cities around the World. For example, City Sightseeing will be one of the main sponsors of the 2019 WTTC Summit, which takes places 2 to 4 April. The conference, which is the travel industry’s leading event, is a unique opportunity for us to expose our brand, our company, and our services, as the presidents and CEOs of the top 160 travel companies around the World will be present, including Emirates Group, Hilton Group, Marriott Group, Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean, Expedia, TUI, and Uber.

Furthermore, the 20th anniversary is another reason why the City Sightseeing Annual Conference will be taking place in Seville. City Sightseeing Seville, our first operation, launched the 31st of March 1999 and we are excited to invite everyone to the city where it all began. The Annual Conference will take place from Sunday, 16th of June until Wednesday, 19th of June. We have a very special programme in store, including a post-conference programme in case you want to stay the entire week.

I am sure 2019 is going to be a very exciting and special year.

Yours sincerely,

03

Stage II/Issue 21

Locally written, globally distributed

The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge

The Authentic Experience

n Exposure at WTM Londo / Trade Shows Great sol & Seville / Destinations Limas In this issue. AthensLimassolSevilleBrightonLimassolOrlandoNew YorkBelfastLas Palmas de Gran CanariaMoscowMalagaBudapestEdinburghGlasgow

/ Staff Editor Antonio M. Ortega. press@city-ss.com Contributing writers Athena Papareskou, Manthos Maisis, Edmund Hinks, Elena Klokkari, Patrick Warner, Daniel Vidal, Rocio Aparcero, Antonio Ybarra, Lauren Mogannam, Rosana Pajaron, George Grimley, Kamilla GallaiDinc, Silvia Perez.

Production Antonio M. Ortega.

Publisher City Sightseeing Worldwide

2018 was a great year.

Looking forward to see what 2019 has in store for us!

06/07

18/19

30/31

We welcome your views about TOP DECK and any stories you might have. Please send any suitable items for inclusion to: topdeck@city-sightseeing.com

WTTC Cities Report

Destination: Seville

Gallery / Corporate News

08/09

20/21

32/33

Printed by: Egondi Artes Gráficas This edition of Top Deck has been printed on CREATOR STAR FSC® paper, where the virgin fibre comes from forests with strict criteria towards environmental protection. This FSC® certified paper also incorporates other environmental standards such as chlorine-free bleaching. The FSC® logo identifies products from well managed forests which are certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council.

Inverview: Peter Harbison – Chairman, CAPA

The World of City Sightseeing

Gallery / Tour News

10/13

22/23

34/35

Destination: Limassol

Gallery / Staff stories

24/25

36/37

14/15

A snapshot of 2018

Special Feature: WTM London

26/27

Gallery / The Best of Social Media

Views expressed in the pages of TOP DECK are not necessarily those of City Sightseeing Worldwide, their Franchisees, Associates and Partners or the Editors.

The CS Marathon Challenge in Athens

16/17 2019 CS Annual Conference Announcement

Interview: Rocio Aparcero, Marketing Dept.

28/29 Suppliers: Latest News

04

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MULTIMEDIA &ENGINEERING 05

World’s Best Performing Cities

Shanghai

Beijing

$35bn

$32.5bn

Tokyo

Bangkok

$21.7bn

$21.3bn

In October, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) released its annual Cities Report, which covers 72 of the world’s most important cities for tourism. These are the highlights.

I

n October, Macau held the WTTC Asia Leaders Forum, where World Travel & Tourism Council, the main private institution in the travel industry, disclosed the 2018 Cities Report.

The document contains interesting information about 72 destinations which together generated over $625bn contribution to GDP last year (24.3% of global Travel & Tourism GDP).

Both the event and the report stressed the dimension of the Eastern market in the tourism sector.

Highlights from the Report include: • Cairo was the fastest growing city in 2017 in terms of Travel & Tourism GDP contribution (34.4%), followed by Macau (14.2%).

• Four of the five fastest growing cities over the past ten years are located in China: Chongqing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou.

Shanghai is ranked as the largest city by Travel & Tourism volume in 2017.

• By 2027, Shanghai is expected 06

to be double the size of Paris in terms of Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP. • Bangkok (50.4%), Paris (29.8%), Mexico City (24.0%) and Tokyo (20.2%) are the biggest contributors to their country’s Travel & Tourism GDP. • In terms of domestic vs. international spend, New York sets an example as a city with a remarkable balance (52.7% vs.

47.2%). Meanwhile, Paris relies heavily on international spending and Beijing on domestic spending.

g

ok

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

Paris

Orlando

New York

$28bn

$24.8bn

$24.8bn

Mexico City

Las Vegas

Shenzhen

$19.7bn

$19.5bn

$19bn

China markets driving growth The WTTC Cities Report includes a particular note on Chinese cities, which “have matured rapidly over the past decade, and are forecast to continue dominating the growth charts between 2017 and 2027”. The document explains: “Shanghai, for example, went from being the 8th largest city in terms of Travel & Tourism GDP in 2007 to become the largest in 2017 – a position it is expected to maintain until 2027. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of Guangzhou will take it to 4th place, and Chongqing is forecast to join the top 15 for the first time.

This comes following a period of sustained infrastructure development, including investments in airports and extensive product development.

The Chinese domestic and outbound markets will drive growth in the coming decade, with the majority of top performers maintaining their positions. Chinese cities will continue to lead, although a slowdown in growth is expected. With the exception of Marrakech, the cities in the top ten ranking of fastest growing Travel & Tourism GDP in the coming decade are in Asia-Pacific.”

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Cities to continue ruling the industry “With 54% of the world’s population living in urban areas, cities have become global economic hubs, driving growth and innovation. They attract huge quantities of people who travel to experience their culture, do business, and live. This growth has also resulted in a rise in city tourism – a trend which is forecasted to maintain momentum. The Report highlights the crucial importance of cities to Travel & Tourism worldwide, and likewise how vital this sector is to the economy. Over half a billion trips are made to cities annually representing 45% of global international travel”

Gloria Guevara President World Travel & Tourism Council

The WTTC City Travel & Tourism Impact Report 2018 is available to download from www.wttc.org/cities

Peter Harbison Executive Chairman, CAPA – Centre for Aviation Peter Harbison is an aviation lawyer, consultant and commentator on industry issues, involved in the aviation sector for more than 40 years. As Chairman of CAPA – Centre for Aviation, Harbison is behind a prolific editorial activity distributed exclusively to industry CEOs, consultancy projects and conferences in various parts of the world.

1

What conclusions do you think you will gather from the business sessions?

While the long-haul low cost model was for a long time debated whether it would be successful, I think now it’s quite obvious that that’s no longer a debate that it is a model that is going to work.

One of the big issues is which is going to be more successful the independent long-haul low-cost carrier or the low-cost carriers that are subsidiaries of legacy airlines of poor service airlines.

2

How do you see tourism today? Is the industry growth sustainable?

I mean, with regards to international aviation we’ve seen traffic growing at extremely high levels, much higher than longterm growth rates over the last three or four years right up to 10% globally, and I think it’s very nice to see it. It’s good for tourism, but it is stretching resources in every sector in terms of accommodation, in terms of tourist tolerance- you’re seeing that in Spain to some

extent, in Barcelona particularly where sometimes there are too many tourists. But from an aviation perspective also it’s putting a lot of strain on the number of aircraft that can be produced and the input of the parts in engines and pilots as well who are needed to fly those aircraft. So the growth is strong but it is putting pressure on a lot of the systems.

3

What is your position on overtourism?

There is always a happy medium. We want a lot of tourists because tourists bring jobs, they bring growth to the economy, but there comes a stage when it changes the lives of the people who live in the city in a not-sogood way and that is occurring undoubtedly in a lot of cities, not just in Spain, but in other countries as well, even in Asia where people are used to very large influxes of people. It is an issue and I think it’s going to become an increasingly bigger issue. It’s something that tourism bodies and tourism authorities locally really have to start to manage more effectively.

They need to think about ways of ensuring that the local population just doesn’t become overwhelmed by having too many tourists, particularly in season.

4

What other challenges do you see in the travel industry today?

Particularly the biggest challenge at the moment for aviation is the high cost of oil fuel prices.

When oil prices are high there’s something like 40% of costs for airlines and oil prices have doubled in the last 18 to 20 months, which is going to create some big problems for airlines in the next few months to come, particularly if the prices stay up there. The other challenge has always been making good profits. Even though we’ve had low fuel prices over the last four years or so up until recently, a lot of airlines still were not making profits enough to earn an adequate return on invested capital and that’s a continuing problem. It’s a highly competitive market really. To keep the industry going you have to have capital coming in.

See the full interview in the interactive version of Top Deck at http://city-sightseeing.com/topdeck 08

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

Opportunities “I think because so much travel is now sold by airlines on their own websites they’re increasingly looking for ways of growing their revenue so they sell hotels, they offer car rentals.

That’s the obvious place to be positioning your products to get them. You pay them a little commission, but you get very wide exposure so everybody who buys a ticket on EasyJet for example is going to see the opportunity to come on your buses.”

Peter Harbison – CAPA 09

“Nenikekamen!”

T From 1st to 10th October, thousands of avid runners and tireless travellers dreamt to fly to Athens and run the Authentic Marathon. Four of them had the chance to fulfil the dream

he City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge celebrated its second edition in Athens on 11th November. Thanks to our operator in the Greek capital, four running enthusiasts had their opportunity to experience an unforgettable weekend at the Athens Marathon.

The Authentic. Beverley McLaren and her son Andrew Brown, from New Zealand; Manuel Gaton, from Spain; and Busisiwe Klimt, a South African living in Germany were the lucky winners from the different categories – Best Story, Best Time (M), and Best Time (F).

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The Athens Marathon is unique in the world as the marathon finds its origins there. The route covers the mythical track that legend claims to be the origin of all the marathons in the world. From the battlefield of the city of Marathon to Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens. It was run for the first time in 1896 to mark the first Olympic Games of the Modern Age, using the route the soldier Philipides ran in 490 A.C. to disseminate the news of the Greek victory over the Persians. As Philipides arrived in Athens, he shouted “Nenikekamen” – “We are victorious” – and died.

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

An ongoing campaign As soon as the 2nd Edition of The CS Marathon Challenge finished with the participation of the competition winners in the Athens Marathon, we launched the 3rd Edition. From 3rd to 17th December, applicants from all over the world have a chance to win a trip to Seville and take part in the Seville Marathon on 17th February, 2019. The CS Marathon Challenge will happen twice per year, once in Seville and another CS destination.

At a glance Once more, the prize of The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge in Athens included flights, accommodations, a tour of the city on the City Sightseeing Athens double-decker bus, meals, transfers, and bib numbers to run the 36th Annual Athens Marathon.

The campaign was yet again a great opportunity for brand exposure in the media and social networks, as shown by the visits to the competition site (themarathonchallenge.com/) and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles.

The winners discovered Athens with the CS Athens bus tour and a guided visit of the Acropolis Museum The team visited the Expo Marathon and participated in the Authentic Marathon The crew also enjoyed some of the best restaurants in Athens, including Varoulko Seaside and Dionysos Zonar’s

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1 Andrew Brown, Beverley McLaren, Edmund Hinks, Busisiwe Klimt, Enrique Ybarra, Athena Papareskou and Manuel Gaton in front of the CS Athens & Piraeus bus. 2 Busisiwe wearing the City Sightseeing sunglasses. 3 Visit to the Acropolis Museum. 4 Batala drummers performing during the Marathon in City Sightseeing outfits.

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

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5 The City Sightseeing Running Team at the Marathon Expo. 6 Athena, Enrique and Manthos Maisis with the Greek flag. 7 Christos Grammatikos, father of Faedonas from City Sightseeing Athens, joined the team. 8 The City Sightseeing Running Team at the finish line.

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1

The City Sightseeing Brand at WTM London For yet another year, City Sightseeing Worldwide was present at WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry. From 5th to 7th November, we had the chance to meet with key agents and explore new partnerships, as we promoted the global brand and the over 100 operations involved.

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n November, WTM London allowed us to catch up with some of the most important agents in the travel industry who attended the event at the Excel London. The British show is one of most important events for us.

In London, we had also chance to meet many of the City Sightseeing operators, such as our friends from Edinburgh, Oxford, Bournemouth, Dublin, Los Angeles, Athens, Corfu, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam, among others.

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This year, the City Sightseeing brand also featured at the ETOA stand thanks to a sponsorship agreement with one of the most important associations in the tourism sector.

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

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1 Alex Dochy, Nico Niesper, Henrik Bendix, Spencer Fitter, Anders Nielsen, and Gonzalo Ruiz. 2 Erik de Visser, Maria Molina, Henk Philip and Gonzalo Ruiz. 3 Brian Segal, Jeronimo Cardenas, and Kami Farhadi. 4 Elaine Green and Kenny Campbell with Chelsey Smith and Maria Molina. 5 Enrique Ybarra, Colin Craig, Maria, Jono Harwood, and Sharon Morrison. 6 Gonzalo Ruiz, Esther Schoutrop, Maria Molina, and Coen de Man. 7 Trivia competition with Gary New and Lauren Mogannam. 8 Brand exposure at ETOA stand.

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Hola, Sevilla!

T he 2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference will be held in Seville from the 16th to the 19th of June. As 2019 marks the 20th Anniversary of City Sightseeing, the global brand operators are invited to meet in the city where everything started.

This corporate event will be a good opportunity to learn from our colleagues and enjoy the charms of Southern Spain.

Next Stop: 20th Anniversary of City Sightseeing, to be celebrated in the brand’s home town

The Barcelo Renacimiento Hotel, which was build for the Expo 92, will accommodate the operators and will be the venue for the business sessions. From the Isla de la Cartuja, only five minutes away from the city centre, the attendees will have chance to discover an exciting destination.

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Indeed, Seville was named

by Lonely Planet as the top destination in “Best in Travel� in 2018. Next year, the city is also celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the first circunnavegation of the world, which started in Seville in 1519 with Ferdinand Magellan and finished in 1522 with the arrival of Juan Sebastian Elcano to the city.

In April 2019, Seville will also host the WTTC Summit, one of the most important events in the travel industry, and will welcome many CEOs from airlines, hotels, and OTAs. Seville is not only one of the most popular tourist destinations in Spain, but it is also a place for hosting major international events.

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

31st March, 1999 The first ever CS operation started running in Seville on 31st March, 1999. It happened on a Holy Wednesday, which is the Wednesday before Easter Sunday. Twenty years have passed and today there are over 100 locations operating under the City Sightseeing brand. To celebrate the anniversary, we will take the Annual Conference to the global brand’s home town, as we did in 2009 with the 10th anniversary.

This is the second time the CS conference will take place in the Spanish city and we are excited to show you how the city has evolved since the brand was born in 1999 and since the 2009 Annual Conference.

The City Sightseeing Worldwide team is already working on an interesting program with relevant keynote speakers, interesting corporate presentations, panels on the different operational aspects, and of course some enjoyable activities.

Highlights Named “Best in Travel” destination for 2018 by Lonely Planet 26ºC / 13ºC average temperatures in May Venue for the 2019 WTTC Summit

Hotel Barcelo Renacimiento, venue for the business sessions of the 2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference 17

Seville 2019 comes with a number of challenges for CS Seville, whose team will be behind of some of the most important upcoming events the City Sightseeing brand will be involved in.

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Right, 2019 has plenty of challenges for us, starting with The CS Marathon Challenge in February, followed by the WTTC Summit in April, and, throughout the year, also many activities taking place due to the 500th Anniversary of the first circumnavigation. In addition to this, 2019 marks the 20th Anniversary of City Sightseeing and I am sure we will be preparing something exciting in March and and in the Conference in June. Seville is an amazing destination which demands the best from us, and the new year will be even more challenging.

We are very proud of being the first ever City Sightseeing operation and it is also a privilege to share the global brand’s main office, but that is also a big responsibility for us. Every product, every service offered to the whole network is first tested here. The latest innovation implemented is related to the scanning system and I am sure the rest of the CS operators will love when it will be presented at our next Annual Conference in Seville.

If the travel industry wasn’t demanding enough itself, now the year 2019...

Daniel Vidal Operations Manager CS Seville

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Seville is not only the cradle of the global brand but also the home of the company’s headquarters. How does this affect to you?

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

The operation CS Seville runs four open-top doubledecker buses to show visitors the most iconic views of Seville, a city of 700,000 inhabitants.

There is one route which lasts 75 minutes and has 14 stops, along with commentary in 16 languages. There are also four guided walking tours to take visitors through the most historical areas. Tickets can be combined and purchased in different packages

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ollowing the development of the City Sightseeing Marketplace and the launch of the scanning system in 2018, we will be able to distribute our products in an absolutely different way by using smart bracelets. This new innovation allow us to offer visitors access to the most interesting attractions in the city by simply showing a QR code. After being tested in Seville and other Spanish cities, the new system will provide a better customer experience, and, for CS operators, will help avoid the tedious invoicing process and shorten the payment period.

2019 Calendar 17th February – The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge 31st March – 20th Anniversary of the City Sightseeing brand 2nd / 4th April – WTTC Summit 16th / 19th June – 2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference

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THE WORLD OF

CITY SIGHTSEEING CANADA Niagara ** Toronto

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Chicago * Los Angeles & Hollywood Miami ** Natchez New Orleans New York Orlando ** Philadelphia * San Antonio San Francisco Seattle Washington DC *

ICELAND Reykjavik

PORTUGAL Albufeira Aveiro Funchal Lisbon Porto Sintra

PANAMA Panama City COLOMBIA Cartagena

PERU Lima

Affiliate (*) Attractions (**) 20

SPAIN Antequera Arrecife Barcelona * Benalmadena Cadiz Cordoba Jerez Las Palmas Gran Canaria Lleida Malaga Nerja Palma De Mallorca Santa Cruz De Tenerife ** Santander Seville Toledo

BELGIUM Brussels

UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND Galway Bath Glasgow Belfast Inverness Bournemouth Llandudno & Conwy Brighton London ** Cambridge Newcastle/Gateshead Cardiff Norwich Chester Oxford Derry/Londonderry Stratford-upon-Avon Dublin York Edinburgh Galashiels (Scotish Border)

TopDeck Magazine | nยบ18 | Enero 2018

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo CYPRUS (Coming Soon) Ayia Napa Limassol Larnaca CZECH REPUBLIC Prague

RUSSIA Kazan Moscow St. Petersburg

DENMARK Copenhagen

Aarhus

ESTONIA Tallinn FINLAND Helsinki FRANCE Paris * GEORGIA Tbilisi

LEBANON Beirut (Coming Soon)

GERMANY Berlin Kiel

Potsdam Trier

GREECE Athens & Piraeus Corfu HUNGARY Budapest UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai Sharjah

LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg MALTA Gozo

SAUDI ARABIA Al Madinah

Malta

NETHERLANDS Rotterdam Amsterdam ITALY Florence Genoa Livorno Messina Milan Naples Padova Palermo Rome Sorrento Turin Verona

SINGAPORE Singapore

SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town Johannesburg & Soweto

AUSTRALIA Melbourne 21

NORWAY Alesund Bergen Geiranger

Oslo Stavanger

POLAND Krakow Gdansk

Warsaw

SWEDEN Gothenburg UKRAINE Kiev

Stockholm

Limassol Discover the first City Sightseeing operation of a new era in Cyprus. As the global brand expands in emerging destinations, it is also strengthening its position in the Mediterranean.

O

n 17th November, City Sightseeing Limassol started operating in Cyprus with two open-top double-decker buses to drive visitors past the most emblematic landmarks of the city. It was a soft-opening in order to allow the operator to improve services and incorporate customer feedback just in time for the peak season when four buses are set to operate in the city and surrounding area.

The new CS Limassol bus tour takes visitors through the narrow streets of the charming Mediterranean city. The highlights of the tour are the Lemesos 22

Medieval Castle, the Molos waterfront promenade with fantastic sea views, the Old Port with its buzzing atmosphere, and the Archaeological Museum and Pattichion Historical Archive.

Limassol’s Mayor, Nicos Nicolaides, welcomed the arrival of the global brand, saying it is an opportunity for visitors to see the sights easily.

Elena Klokkari, CS Cyprus operator, is working on an expansion plan which will take the CS brand to other towns on the island, including Larnaca and Ayia Napa, which will launch in the upcoming months.

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

The operation CS Limassol operates a Hop-on Hop-off service most of the year. From 9:00 to 15:00, visitors can admire the most stunning views of this Mediterranean gem, learn about the history of the city with an interesting commentary in 10 languages, and explore their favourite places by hopping off at any of the 13 stops throughout the city.

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imassol is located on the southern coast of Cyprus, where it stands out as the second largest urban area on the island and a must-see destination in the Mediterranean. In fact, Limassol has been ranked

by TripAdvisor as the 3rd up-and-coming destination in the world, on its “Top 10 Traveler’s Choice Destinations on the Rise”. It is also listed in the world’s ranking of “Quality of Living and World Cities Research Network”. The Limassol Castle, the Old Harbour, the Marina, the Kolossi Castle, and the Kourion Kingdom are just some of the exciting places to discover in this historical and sunny destination.

Highlights Cyprus’ international business centre and a lively destination with plenty of shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants Second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia Main port in the country since the Turkish invasion in 1974

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01 JANUARY

02 FEBRUARY

As usual, we started the year promoting the CS operations at FITUR Madrid, one of the most important trade shows in the travel industry.

The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge was launched in Seville on 25th February. This month we also signed a partnership with Tourism Cares.

A snapshot of 2018 05 MAY

06 JUNE

The CS Annual Conference continued until 2 May. CS Seattle and CS Sarajevo were launched, and we attended IPW in Denver.

The new Top Deck interactive version went live with the first two editions of the corporate magazine of 2018.

09 SEPTEMBER

10 OCTOBER

We were present at the WTTC Europe Leaders Forum in Lisbon, sponsored Arival Event, and took part in the Tourism Cares activity in NOLA.

In October, the global brand stood out at the CAPA Summit and at the ABTA Conference. Also, our corporate blog went live.

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

03 MARCH

04 APRIL

The new CS Marketplace and scanning app went live in March. Outstanding trade shows: ITB Berlin and Seatrade Cruise Global.

We attended the WTTC Summit in Argentina and attended ATM Dubai. Right after the show, the 2018 Annual Conference was held in Dubai.

Here is a spotlight on the work done in City Sightseeing Worldwide to promote the global brand and the over 100 destinations involved in the international network, as well as some innovations boosted to improve the product.

07 JULY

08 AUGUST

The City Sightseeing brand shone under the hot summer sun during peak season, thanks, in part, to the Purchasing Department.

By August, CS operators were able to scan vouchers from Expedia, GetYourGuide, Viator, Civitatis, Tiqets, Isango, and the CS website.

11 NOVEMBER

12 DECEMBER

WTM London, 2nd edition of The CS Marathon Challenge in Athens, launch of CS Limassol, launch of the client newsletter... Busy days.

Time for the new Staff, Friends & Family newsletter. The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge named its winners for the third edition.

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Rocío Aparcero Marketing Manager – City Sightseeing Worldwide Rocio has a degree in German Philology, a Master’s Degree in Translation and Interpretation of German texts, and a Master’s degree in Marketing and Communication. She has worked in the travel industry as a Marketing Manager in 5-star hotels in Barcelona.

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What does the City Sightseeing brand mean to you?

The City Sightseeing brand is synonymous with discovering the world while having fun, along with top quality service. Furthermore, City Sightseeing has a unique opportunity to build a brand, simply by operating in the main urban centres of the world. That is why one of the main objectives of the department is to unify the brand, both online and offline for all City Sightseeing operations around the world, to make it stronger and more recognizable, thus adding value to the company.

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How do you see the tourism industry evolving in terms of marketing?

The consumer is King. That is something that will never change. However, in this day and age, we will have to continually predetermine a consumer’s necessities and wants in order to surprise them with solutions that will make them want to travel and that will make their holiday unforgettable.

3

Trade shows represent one of City Sightseeing’s greatest efforts to gain presence in the tourism sector?

Can you tell us what we have gained by attending these professional fairs?

Since 2010, we have been attending the most important trade shows in the travel industry.

In the past we only attended WTM London, but today we are present with a branded stand in every major event – ITB Berlin, FITUR Madrid, ATM Dubai, IPW USA and, of course, WTM London. We also attend other important shows and events – Expedia Conference, Arival, and Visit Britain. We make a huge investment to showcase the global brand and all City Sightseeing operations.

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What’s next?

We want to take care of the brand’s image in every channel- both online and offline.

This, along with continued trade show presence, commercial events throughout the world, and projects like The CS Marathon Challenge, which link our brand to positive values, will help us 26

continue to take the company to new heights. The idea for next year is to work more with travel bloggers, instagramers, and influencers as they have become those most trusted by consumers, as well as continually promote the company and operations in trade publications when newsworthy events or developments occur.

Furthermore, we look foward to celebrating City Sightseeing’s 20th Anniversary in Seville.

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How do you see the City Sightseeing brand in 5 to 10 years time?

We need to evolve and provide an integral service that goes beyond the bus- an integral experience in and of itself- while continuing to be a reference in the way to do tourism. We cannot forget to set forth a completely unified brand image, which only strengthens the brand and makes it more recognisable, along with incorporating innovative technological advances that will benefit employees and consumers alike. The brand will be a way of living, experiencing and discovering a destination.

TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

A Travelling Enthusiast “I studied at the German School in Seville and starting at 12 I would spend one month per year in Germany, even when it was not very common to travel alone. I have lived in Germany and Spain, have travelled through Europe, United States, Central and South America, and Southeastern Asia.

I’m happy to have the opportunity to work and continue travelling with City Sightseeing” Rocío Aparcero – City Sightseeing Worldwide 27

News Discover the latest products, services, and novelties from our providers who are constantly innovating.

Latest recommendations from the Purchasing Catalogue

T

he cold season can’t stop us and we need to be ready to provide our customers with the best experience in the most popular winter destinations. Look at the suggestions from the City Sightseeing Catalogue in order to operate in perfect City Sightseeing style this winter.

Download at https://goo.gl/o4ZM6b.

And remember:

1/ All of these products can be personalised, and 2/ Do not hesitate to ask for new products that would be helpful in your operation.

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

New UNVI Electric, Hybrid and CNG Double Decker

Synchronize Bus Operative with realtime traffic information with DESIC

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D

or Unvi, the Urbis Double-Decker Open-Top vehicle continues being a successful product.

This vehicle stands out for its design, quality and innovation, and is already operating in more than 34 countries.

Although the diesel version is still available, new solutions are becoming more popular and demand for them is rising rapidly. These new solutions are in line with global trends and policies for making public transportation environmentally friendly.

An example of the above are Urbis Hybrid, Electric and CNG Double-Decker Open-Top vehicles. More than 30 of these vehicles are already operating and the company is receiving new purchasing orders constantly.

In addition, there are Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) 30-seat vehicles, also Open-Top vehicles, that were recently delivered to customers.

Unvi is always flexible and tries to adapt to customer needs.

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ESIC has been providing cutting-edge technology and IT solutions since 1997, constantly improving each of their solutions.

Proof of this is the new advance they have made within their Bus Operative system, a system already used by City Sightseeing operations, such as Seville, Dubai or Budapest, among others.

This new synchronisation development revolves around one of the biggest problems operation managers deal with on several occasions. Even if there is a planning of schedules, routes and departures, the second there is a bit of traffic in the city, all this will change.

Now there is a way to avoid this. DESIC has developed a way to synchronise Bus Operative with real-time traffic information in a city. Thus, if a tourist opens his/her App (Bus2App) it will show a prediction of how long it will take for the nearest bus to get to the stop based on existing traffic at the moment.

Interested in learning more? Visit www.desic-sl.com.

Corporate News from the Global Brand

At the ETOA Stand at WTM In the latest edition of World Travel Market, the City Sightseeing brand stood out in one of the busiest stands at the ExCeL London as we sponsored the coffee bar at the ETOA stand.

Integrations

Client Newsletter

New UK Office

Following the development of the CS Marketplace, we close 2018 with the ability to scan vouchers from: Expedia, GetYourGuide, Viator, Civitatis, Tiqets, Isango, Guide & Go, Musement, and Livn.

In November, we started emailing customers who made purchases from the City Sightseeing website. We will keep our customers informed with monthly newsletters about our destinations and special promotions.

The CS Worldwide UK team moved to a new office, just in time for Christmas! New address: City Sightseeing Ltd Suite 8, Floor 3 Grosvenor House, Redditch, Worcestershire, B97 4DL, UK.

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

CSR

Jumper Day

Running Support

Cardiff Santa Dash

On 14th December, the City Sightseeing staff in the UK took part in Jumper Day to raise funds for Save The Children. The Spanish office took part on the 21st.

On 9th December, CS Bath was at Parliament Buildings supporting NI Hospice, a local charity with their 5K event. Well done friends!

CS Bath provided Welsh Hearts with an open-top bus “and a wonderful driver”, they said, to launch their Admiral Cardiff Santa Dash.

El Bus de la Ilusión

Wise Men in Seville BAE at CS Joburg

Six Spanish cities launched a special tour for charity during Christmas. Palma, Cadiz, Malaga, Toledo, Seville and Las Palmas GC will donate all proceeds from 22nd December to 4th January.

Yet again, Enrique, Isaac and other colleagues from the CS Worldwide office in Seville visited the children at Valme hospital to deliver some presents and collect wishes.

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On 26th October, twenty-three members of the Bedfordview Association for the Elderly (BAE) enjoyed a tour with CS Johannesburg.

CS Operators Outstanding News from Your Operation

Sam Darnold on board Sam Darnold from the New York Jets took a spin around New York on a City Sightseeing bus while on the Bleacher Report’s “Simms & Lefkoe: The Show”.

Discover Norwich

Cultural Tourism

The Blue Man Group

David McMaster from CS Norwich drove Bethany Wales, left, and Abigail Nicholson, through the most iconic areas of the city for the Eastern Daily Press.

CS Seville signed an agreement with the FOCUS foundation to boost cultural tourism.

They promote visiting Baroque buildings in the city like the Hospital de los Venerables.

The American performance art company, The Blue Man Group, hopped on a City Sightseeing bus when visiting Moscow. Look at them with a staff member.

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

Electric buses

Charitable tours

Top attractions

In December, 14 Italian cities introduced double-decker electric buses (including Rome, Florence, Milan, Turin, and Naples). A great step towards more sustainable business practices.

Children from Blikkiesdorp had the time of their lives following a collaboration between CapeTalk and Cape Town businesses, including our friends from CS Cape Town.

CS Glasgow asked the Shawlands primary school’s P4 pupils to compile a short list of must-see city attractions.

Based on their feedback, the CS operator unveiled its top attractions.

Cancer awareness

Miss Of Australia

Santa’s arrival

Some Spanish operations did special tours to raise funds during Breast Cancer Day and included large pink ribbons on their buses to raise awareness of the disease. In the picture, CS Santander operator with city’s councilors.

CS Melbourne was one of the official sponsors for the 2018 Miss Of Australia beauty pageant. Ronald Spiteri and his team provided the ladies with an all-inclusive tour of Melbourne on the doubledecker buses.

Nobody knows how Santa Claus manages to deliver presents around the world but what we do know is that he explored Malaga with CS Malaga on a boat tour. They had a great time!

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CS Family Staff Stories

Staff, Friends & Family With this newsletter, all CS staff can be informed of the company’s novelties and interact with the global brand. Subscribe at: http://city-sightseeing. com/staff.

Scape Room

Kamilla’s Wedding

Andy & Sarah

The CS Spain team had their annual meeting in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where they met for business sessions and also had the chance to enjoy the island. Look at them during one of the activities.

Kamilla Gallai-Dinc, from CS Bournemouth, wanted to share her wedding photo with us, and see if we could spot something. What do you see? Clue: look at the pen she is using to sign her marriage certificate.

On 18th October, Andy Lawrence married Sarah Marshall. After a beautiful wedding, the happy couple went on their honeymoon to the Mauritius Island... and they got back just in time for WTM London!

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

Andrew White (1952-2018) Written by Friends and Colleagues at Bath Bus Company

Hello Viviane!

Viviane Zoghbi is already part of the CS Family. She attended the latest conference and is working hard on the launch of CS Beirut.

That’s why she came to Seville in November and met the team.

On the 15th November 2018, Bath Bus Company sadly lost one of the company’s longest serving drivers, 66 year-old Andrew White.

Andy had worked for the company for sixteen years and sixteen days, during which time he made many friends both within and outside of the company.

Andy was diagnosed with leukemia in May and despite treatment, which appeared to go well, he succumbed to the disease suddenly in November.

Everyone liked and respected Andy. He was a true gentleman in every sense – something reflected at his funeral when over thirty staff – past and present attended. The Bath Tour offered only a token service as all his colleagues wanted to pay their respects.

He was far more than a driver. Working primarily on Bath Tours, he also drove the AirDecker service to Bristol Airport when required and was ‘loaned’ to Cardiff for their tour when any emergency arose.

Ivan’s Double Heart Iván is a member of the CS Málaga boat crew who has been helping a community in Cameroon for years. Now he is raising funds to build a hospital through his charity Doble Corazón (Double Heart). Good job!

With a keen interest in history, Andy was also a tour guide – both on the buses and as a valued Mayor’s Guide in Bath; he also contributed greatly to the research and writing of the Bath Skyline tour commentary. As if driving, guiding, researching and writing weren’t enough, Andy also assisted with the training of both drivers and guides.

He will be long remembered by all his many friends and colleagues at Bath Bus Company – and greatly missed.

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SuperPosts Best of Social Media

A Lauren Mogannam Online Communications Manager

s we begin 2019, we have decided to take a walk down memory lane and see all the changes that took place on different social media platforms in 2018, with regards to both alterations in the makeup of social media networks and City Sightseeing content. In February, Facebook introduced a new algorithm, which made it more difficult for brands to reach people, as the social media giant wanted to return to its origins and make its network once again a true social platform for friends and family to stay connected versus a medium for advertisers to bombard users. Despite this major shift, City Sightseeing operators have continued to showcase a unified brand across online platforms and help take the brand to new heights. One major change we have seen amongst many of you is the use of video on your different social media networks. Without a doubt video is essential as we move forward into 2019, for users are more likely to interact with videos instead of static photos. We have also loved seeing the increase of staff photos on social networks, as well as continued posts from those who have seasonal operations.

To show everyone some examples of what we have discussed, here are a few posts that we have seen on various platforms that use video and showcase City Sightseeing staff members. Furthermore, there is an example of a seasonal operation posting even during the off season. All do a great job promoting the individual operation, while strengthening the global brand at the same time.

Super Posts!

From Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, there are constantly great posts published throughout the City Sightseeing network to promote the global brand, give information, and inspire those to hop-on and discover a city with City Sightseeing.

Here are a few posts that we have selected that have done just that.

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TopDeck Magazine | #21 | January 2019

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The Wall

Social stories

Twitter | Facebook | TripAdvisor | TrustPilot | Viator | GetYourGuide Paula Clarke — Reykjavik. Great service with lots to see On your own time. Good value for money.

Alena Syrbu – Russia. Last weekend, walked through the center of Moscow with a wonderful guide Elizabeth. Lisa is a man infinitely in love with the profession and in Moscow. She with interest told us about the sights of the center of the capital. Every building, every square, every monument — Liza seems to know the answers to all our many questions and happily tells non-standard stories about such familiar places in Moscow. Her professionalism is surprising and inspiring!

During the tour, I learned a lot of unusual facts about the sights, which passed by hundreds of times, absolutely not thinking about their history.

And most importantly - I was charged with energy and positive emotions for the whole week ahead. I wish each of us to treat our business with the same love with which City Sightseeing guides relate to it.

Be sure to come to you again))

leane363 — Athens. This was a great way to get our bearings in Athens. We did a full circuit so on the second circuit we knew where we wanted to get off and explore. Lots of information and very easy to access with several stops

@DaniQuintero. Una pasada los tours por Nueva York de @CitySSNYC @CitySSWorldwide ¡Muy recomendable!

Yuberka S – Helsinki. This is really the best way to see this city. You are in control to where you want to get off or stay.

Alejandro Cisneros – Cartagena. 100% recommended.

If you go with the family it is a very pleasant route. marc m – Sharjah. I took this city sightseeing hop on hop tours on 23/10/2018. The tour started from the blue souq. The ticketing staff was very helpful in the souq and explained in details about the tours.

After purchasing the tickets the staff walked with me towards the bus and the driver welcome in the bus a very professional gentle man Mr.Mehandar Singh. I was also offered complimentary water which was a good jester. The bus was clean and the driver drive the bus in a good speed for me to take some good pictures. I got down on stop 3 near the mosque and walked towards the Noor Island as the sales person highlighted it’s a must do when in sharjah. (...) Over all a very enjoyable tour with professional staff ,friendly and helpful staff. End of the day I learned so much about Sharjah that I would not have know if I did not choice to take city sightseeing tour. Excellent service over all.

SYED — Dubai. Excellent tour, we really enjoyed it, will recommend to others.

@AntonioMOrtega_. Happy #WorldTourismDay to all the @CitySSWorldwide Family and the rest of this wonderful industry!! #WTD2018 in #Sevilla

Nevien A – Copenhagen. I It was an awesome bus trip in an amazing beautiful city, it’s highly recommended for anyone who is visiting Copenhagen.

Resurreccion — Dubai. Excellent tour, we really enjoyed it, will recommend to others.

Social media really is the new phenomenon so on this page we hope to feature the best feeds from our Franchisees, some of our customer comments and also from leading industry ‘tweeters’. Send your social media namTe to topdeck@city-sightseeing.com and we’ll follow you. You can start with following us @CitySSWorldwide

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The travel of Peter Peter will take the bus at 12 pm, he still has 5 minutes left.

Bus Stop 09:00

10:00

12:00

13:00

If has been more than 20 minutes since he arrive at the stop and no bus has passed.

In the back of the bus stop there is an advertisement to download and see the buses in real time. Peter scans the QR code and downloads it in his mobile phone.

Scan and download

11:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00

20:00

Already on the bus, Peter enjoys the journey. ic, aff f tr rrive o e ill a . aus Bec bus w inutes r you 17 m in

To be continued...

Real Time

+34 928 374 026 www.desic-sl.com busoperative@desic-sl.com