Stage II/Issue 23
Locally written, globally distributed
Seville, Spain
2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference
ATM Dubai & A S U W IP s w o h S / Trade eoul / New Destination S In this issue. SevilleBelfastAthensGlasgowSeattleBudapestBrightonCape TownEdinburghBrusselsSeoulMoscowLos AngelesNew YorkBeirutDubai
TopDeck Magazine | nº18 | 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, I want to thank all the 2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference attendees for joining us in Seville, Spain. It was the largest conference to date and also a magnificent event where we were able to gain invaluable insight from some of the travel industry’s leading professionals. Occurring the same year as the 20th Anniversary of the global brand, this conference allowed us to share with all of you the new vision of City Sightseeing. For those who would like to relive some of the great memories from the Annual Conference, and also for those who could not attend this time and want to see what we did in Seville, you all will find an article regarding the event on pages 10/17. Since the previous edition of Top Deck, we have continued promoting all the CS operations in some of the travel industry’s most important events, like ATM in Dubai in May (pages 24/25) and IPW in the USA in June (pages 22/23). At the same time, the celebrations of the 20th Anniversary have continued with new exciting parties, like the one we hosted in Anaheim, California, USA, during IPW. On this occasion I am also happy to welcome a new and exciting destination which has allowed the City Sightseeing brand to expand in a strategic market of Far East Asia – Seoul, South Korea. Seoul is a vibrant city with plenty of things to see and do and a great addition to the CS worldmap. With the strength of our global brand, our wide presence, and the company’s new vision, I invite you all to work together to lead change in the travel industry with City Sightseeing. Yours sincerely,
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Stage II/Issue 23
Locally written, globally distributed
Seville, Spain
2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference
USA & ATM Dubai / Trade Shows IPW / New Destination Seoul In this issue. SevilleBelfastAthensGlasgowSeattleBudapestBrightonCape TownEdinburghBrusselsSeoulMoscowLos AngelesNew YorkBeirutDubai
/ Staff Editor Antonio M. Ortega. press@city-ss.com Contributing writers George Grimley, Athena Papareskou, Sharon Mendham, Sergei Lavrentyev, Henrik Bendix, Paul Nel, Chelsey Smith, Lauren Mogannam, Rosana Pajaron, Kiyon Kil, Antonia Jones, Daniel Vidal, Isaac Flores. Production Antonio M. Ortega. Publisher City Sightseeing Worldwide
We welcome your thoughts about TOP DECK and any ideas you might have. Please send any suitable items for inclusion to: topdeck@city-sightseeing.com 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.
Views expressed in the pages of TOP DECK are not necessarily those of City Sightseeing Worldwide, their Franchisees, Associates and Partners or the Editors.
City Sightseeing Seoul, our newest operation in Asia 06/07
20/21
30/31
Destination 2030
The World of City Sightseeing
Gallery / Corporate News
Interview with Tao Tao – Get Your Guide
22/23
32/33
Special Feature: IPW, USA
Gallery / Tour News
10/13
24/25
34/35
City Sightseeing Annual Conference
Special Feature: ATM Dubai
Gallery / Staff stories
14/17
26/27
36/37
Q&A About the New CS Marketplace
Gallery / The Best of Social Media
28/29
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Suppliers: Latest News
The Wall
08/09
City Sightseeing Awarded Operators
18/19 New Destination: Seoul, South Korea
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TopDeck Magazine | nยบ18 | Enero 2018
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Destination 2030 WTTC and JLL teamed up to launch the first assessment of cities’ readiness for tourism growth – “Destination 2030”, a comprehensive index based on the evaluation of more than 75 indicators in 50 global markets. Are cities ready to receive more travellers?
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n June, WTTC released its latest report focused on the most popular worldwide destinations. Following ongoing growth in arrivals during the last few years, the study developed in collaboration with JLL addresses the question of what makes a city ready for Travel & Tourism growth. This research develops a unique methodology to evaluate and deliver solutions to foster sustainable growth in tourism activity and takes an approach of assessing ‘readiness’, through which it aims to help city governments and tourism bodies better understand how well cities are positioned for future growth, while identifying gaps and opportunities that should be considered in future tourism strategy planning.
Dawning Developers: Cities have an emerging tourism infrastructure, gradual tourism growth and lower visitor concentration but with potential to grow; such as Lima, Moscow and Riyadh. Emerging Performers: Cities have an emerging tourism infrastructure, growing tourism momentum and the start of increasing pressures related to tourism growth; including Delhi, Istanbul and Cape Town. Balanced Dynamics: Cities are often financial hubs with a lower share of leisure compared to business travel, but they also have an established tourism infrastructure and potential
The newly-created index brings together a broad spectrum of destination practices and community attributes to determine a level and type of readiness. The levels range from emerging to established market tourism hubs with varying infrastructure levels.
for Travel & Tourism growth. Examples include Chicago, Munich and Cape Town. Mature Performers: Cities have strong leisure and/or business travel dynamics and an established tourism infrastructure, but there is a risk of future strains related to visitor volume, infrastructure or activity that is testing readiness for additional growth. Such cities include New York, Berlin, Seoul, Seville, Lisbon, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and Dublin. Managing Momentum: Cities have high growth momentum driven by leisure travel and an established tourism infrastructure. Yet, these cities face pressures to ensure that the volume of travellers is matched with the required urban infrastructure and tourism product diversity. Examples include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Stockholm, Toronto, San Francisco, Paris, and Prague. Where do the rest of the City Sightseeing destinations rank? We invite you to download the full report from our interactive version of Top Deck (citysightseeing.com/topdeck) and also discover solutions that foster sustainable growth in future tourism activity.
According to this study, five city typologies were defined on the basis of the level of readiness:
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TopDeck Magazine | #23 | July 2019
5) Managing Momentum High growth momentum driven by leisure travel Visitor volumes and activities with potential to cause strain on the city
Where does my city rank?
Es t
tures truc ras inf
m ris ou
diness and t o u r i s n rea mi rba nfr as du tru he lis ct ab
Levels of City Readiness
Amsterdam Barcelona Paris
Prague Rome San Francisco
Stockholm Toronto Vancouver
4) Mature Performers Strong leisure and/or buiness travel Visitor volumes and activity increasingly testing cities’ readiness for additional growth Auckland Berlin Dublin Las Vegas
Lisbon London Los Angeles
Madrid Miami New York
Seoul Seville Sydney
e ur Emerging urban re adi ne ss
an d
t
1) Dawning Developers Slower tourism growth, and lower visitor concentration –For now Bogota Buenos Aires Cairo Chengdu
Kuala Lumpur Lima Manila Moscow
3) Balanced Dynamics
Mumbai Rio de Janeiro Riyadh
leisure travel Additional runway for visitor growth without straining cities’ urban landscape
2) Emerging Performers
Beijing Chicago Dubai Hong Kong
Growing tourism momentum and increased preasures Bangkok Cape Town Delhi Ho Chi Minh City
Istanbul Jakarta Mexico City
Munich Osaka Shanghai
Singapore Tokyo Washington DC
Source: JLL, WTTC
Sharing Experiences & Best Practices
For a city to truly thrive and for Travel & Tourism to develop in a sustainable manner, city planning authorities, developers, investors, legislators and community groups need to understand how ready the city is for future expected growth in tourism and the resulting challenges and opportunities that it may face. It is important for decision makers to create long-term plans involving all stakeholders, considering the needs of visitors, but putting residents at the heart of plans for investment and infrastructure developments. Investors should also consider this broad spectrum of indicators when making investment decisions, as they are linked to the future potential of the investment market. Gloria Guevara, President WTTC Mark Wynne Smith, Global CEO, Hotels & Hospitality Group JLL 07
Tao Tao Founder & COO – GetYourGuide Tao co-founded GetYourGuide in 2009 while attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He has since held several strategic roles, including Business Development, Supply, and Customer Service. Under Tao’s leadership, over 20 million tickets have been booked to date via the GetYourGuide website, mobile app, and partnership network.
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Get Your Guide has always been a very strong City Sightseeing partner and we have worked closely in the industry during the last 10 years. How do you foresee overcoming barriers that you face every day? There’s one thing that we always tell our teams: there is no one silver bullet and there is not this one thing to unlock growth, because if there were then everybody could do it. It would be easy. I think one of the things that we always say in our type of business is that it is extremely complex. One of the complexity factors is how many degrees of freedom do you have in which you can operate. So as a travel business, you have a degree of freedom of which destination you should operate in. The other axis of freedom that you have is where do my customers come from? Do I market to Germans or to French? Do I a market to Spaniards or to Japanese? That degree
of freedom gives you a lot of complexity on technology, on branding, and on messaging. So I think how you manage that complexity internally is really the key to growth.
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Where do you see the industry and Get Your Guide in the next five years?
I think the biggest one, and that we are already seeing in some of our more mature markets, is that brands will start to emerge and consumers will associate them with experiences. Typically there’s two ways you can build a brand in travel: one way is you push the brand super hard like with Kayak, and another way and I think we’ve seen this with TripAdvisor, people start to use it and suddenly from one day to other it becomes this mega brand. And we’re kind of taking the hybrid approach. We always tell our teams the best way to build your brand is to give customers an incredible, incredible experience, because this is the only way
to build a sustainable brand. Customers need to have a very clear expectation of the quality delivery they can get if they use a certain brand.
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What importance does Get Your Guide now place on global partnerships and working with global teams? The way we look at it is the more we can focus on delivering innovation the better, and if you can have a partner that can ensure innovation through technology through things like design and consistent branding and messaging, that’s obviously a huge benefit for us.
The one problem that we still see is how do we ensure customers have consistently great experiences. For us, the consistent and quality of delivery of the experience that’s what we want to use global partners for. For us, we want to build the most amazing customer experience so who we partner with to make it happen is key.
See the full interview in the interactive version of Top Deck at http://city-sightseeing.com/topdeck 08
TopDeck Magazine | #23 | July 2019
Tao Tao – Get Your Guide 09
2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference “The largest and the most magnificent City Sightseeing Annual Conference to date” took place in Seville, Spain, from 16th to 19th June June. On this special occasion, as part of the 20th Anniversary celebrations, we had the opportunity to enjoy an event completely different from what we have experienced before.
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he City Sightseeing network gathered in Seville, Spain, as part of the 20th Anniversary of the global brand. Over 150 attendees had the chance to explore the gorgeous city of Seville and discover a small part of Jerez de la Frontera during two exciting Social Days, as well as gain invaluable insight from some of the travel industry’s leading professionals in the Business Days.
For the first time, an extensive panel of industry experts joined the conference in order to discuss trends and challenges in the tourism industry with the entire City Sightseeing network. Furthermore, all attendees broke out into four different working sessions to discuss some of the most burning issues that affect us in our day-to-day.
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At this magnificent event, we could also share with the operators the new vision of City Sightseeing, based on the tech revolution and the idea of sharing economy platforms. With this new inspiration and the experience of the last 20 years, we are in a position to lead the industry’s change and become the leading In-Destination Experience Supplier.
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Topics discussed during the 2019 Annual Conference: Activities and Attractions- As we shift from a hop-on-hop-off tour provider to an In-Destination Experience Supplier, we discussed the importance of the whole network being connected through the City Sightseeing Marketplace in order to position ourselves as one of the industry’s most prominent players and leverage our know-how to cross-sell and up-sell countless products by continually reaching new agreements with attractions in all City Sightseeing destinations. Branding- We discussed the importance of having a unified brand image throughout the entire international network in order to send a clear message to City Sightseeing customers and partners, no matter where in the world they are, and especially to allow local operators benefit from brand recognition in a competitive market. Crisis Management- While no one likes to think about possible worstcase scenarios it is important to be prepared. We worked through a specific case study and got great feedback from Mike Craven from Lexington Communications. B2C Communication- Lastly, we touched on communicating with today’s traveller. In a world where users are constantly inundated with brands trying to reach them, it is vital we keep in mind our target audience and send them compelling messages and engaging content.
See the full album on the interactive version of Top Deck. 12
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Download the app at city-sightseeing.com/topdeck 13
CS Awards During the Gala Dinner held at the gorgeous Casa Pilatos, the City Sightseeing Awards were presented to different CS operations for their hard work and service. These are our latest awarded operations and colleagues based on various criteria announced previously.
2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference Award Winners: Best Operator City Sightseeing Belfast Brand Ambassador Athena Papareskou-Hinks City Sightseeing Athens Best Quality Service City Sightseeing Glasgow Best New Operator City Sightseeing Seattle Best Social Media City Sightseeing Budapest Best Brand Image City Sightseeing Brighton Best Corporate Social Responsibility City Sightseeing Cape Town
BEST OPERATOR – CITY SIGHTSEEING BELFAST The prize for Best Operator is awarded based on many components ranging from brand presence in the city to fluid and frequent communication with City Sightseeing Worldwide staff. This operator runs an extraordinary operation meeting City Sightseeing Worldwide requisites, such as an impeccable fleet, compliance and a high score on the Safety Management System, and fabulous brand presence throughout the city. Furthermore, there is a noticeable investment in the operation, including the number of employees, buses, staff training, and customer service. Prize: Flight + accommodation (double room for two nights) for two people when visiting the City Sightseeing Worldwide Headquarter office in Seville.
“This is a clear testament to all the hard work that all our staff in Belfast has put in to ensure that City Sightseeing customers receive the best possible experience during their visit to Belfast. The Best Operator award comes a year after Belfast was awarded the Best Quality award at last year’s conference. During 2019 the Belfast operation has also retained a high score in the Northern Ireland Tourist Board quality accreditation and has achieved World Host accreditation for their staff.” George Grimley Director City Sightseeing Belfast
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BRAND AMBASSADOR – ATHENA PAPARESKOU-HINKS (CITY SIGHTSEEING ATHENS)
BEST QUALITY SERVICE – CITY SIGHTSEEING GLASGOW
The award for Best Brand Ambassador goes to the person who represents the City Sightseeing brand in various aspects of his/her life and does his/her most to take the brand name to new destinations. This operator helps take the brand to new heights and is passionate about the service he/she provides. Additionally, the Best Brand Ambassador is committed to the City Sightseeing international network and making an impact on the travel industry.
The winner for Best Quality Service was chosen based on the average customer reviews received via email and various online platforms. This operator is also active in responding to all reviews. Interaction with the City Sightseeing Worldwide staff in order to provide speedy resolutions to inquiries and complaints was also taken into consideration. Prize: €1,000 credit to use in the Purchasing Department. Valid until the 2020 Annual Conference.
Prize: Free accommodation (2 nights) + conference fee for the 2020 Annual Conference for two people.
Did You Meet Our Partners? Throughout the last 20 years, our suppliers have helped us innovate and lead our sector, becoming more than providers but our partners in the industry. Look at how they featured alongside us in the Exhibitors Area of the City Sightseeing Annual Conference. UNVI is the leading manufacturer of double-decker open-top vehicles and other customisable open-top solutions.
M&E are an international multimedia engineering company with over 20 year’s experience specialised in the tourism sector.
Vox Group is the leading provider of audio-guide equipment and digital destination applications in the tourism industry.
DESIC, the IT consulting company, offers the best solutions in IT system management.
In2retail is a full-service ATM company dedicated to offering the best ATM products and services.
PrioTicket – Our partnership with the Dutch company allowed us to develop the new CS Marketplace.
Great Guide – Well known for their reliable and robust multilingual tour-guide systems and solutions for tour operators of all sizes.
Euraslog strives to become the leading manufacturer of childsafety products, along with consulting on child-safety issues.
Palisis AG is a leading provider of innovative sales management solutions for tourism and transport businesses.
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BEST NEW OPERATOR – CITY SIGHTSEEING SEATTLE
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CITY SIGHTSEEING BUDAPEST
This prize is awarded to the City Sightseeing operator that has been part of the international network for less than two years and who best adapts to the requirements of the brand and the franchise. Furthermore, this operator provides outstanding service and has made a noticeable investment in the operation, including staff training, the fleet, and the correct application of the brand image.
The winning operation was chosen based on how closely they follow the Social Media Manual. This encompasses everything from the profile and cover photos to the type of content that is posted to the frequency of the posts and engagement with different communities. Prize: €1,000 credit in the Marketing and Design Department. Valid until the 2020 Annual Conference.
Prize: Flight + Accommodation (double room for 2 nights) for two people when visiting the City Sightseeing Worldwide Headquarter office in Seville.
Recognitions Along with the City Sightseeing Awards, longstanding people and operations received a certification “in recognition of their ongoing commitment and loyalty to the City Sightseeing brand as demonstrated throughout these years forming part of the international network.” Tribute to the operators and companies that have been involved with the global brand: Neil Renilson, City Sightseeing Brussels, Henrik Bendix, Anders Nielsen, City Sightseeing Edinburgh, City Sightseeing Oxford, City Sightseeing Glasgow, and City Sightseeing Seville.
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BEST BRAND IMAGE CITY SIGHTSEEING BRIGHTON
BEST CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – CITY SIGHTSEEING CAPE TOWN
Adherence to the Corporate Identity Manual is key in determining the winner for Best Brand Image. The correct application of the brand image must be noticeable in the fleet, printed materials, supporting materials, and online profiles.
This award goes to the City Sightseeing operation that does a great deal in order to give back to the community and minimise the operation’s negative impact on the environment by taking measures, such as eliminating plastic, using electric vehicles, and using recycled paper to print supporting materials, such as brochures and business cards.
Prize: €1,000 credit to use in the Purchasing Department. Valid until the 2020 Annual Conference.
Prize: €1,000 credit in the Marketing and Design Department. Valid until the 2020 Annual Conference.
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Seoul Seoul is a huge city with 10 million inhabitants and over 15 million visitors per year, including five million Chinese travellers. Also, Seoul is a key Asian market and Ki-yon Kil is our ambassador in the region.
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Seoul is geographically centered among other Asia cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing, and Shanghai. CS Seoul can be a hub in Asia for City Sightseeing’s expansion.
City Sightseeing is already a familiar brand to tourists around the world, especially from Europe, the Middle East, and America. When they visit Seoul, they will see a familiar brand. Because of the colourful appearance and aggressive marketing of CS, many tourists will consider Seoul as one of the top destinations, meaning more tourists are expected to come to visit South Korea and its neighbouring countries. Therefore, more tourists will flow into Asian countries as Seoul becomes a CS operator.
What is Seoul bringing to the City Sightseeing international portfolio?
Ki-yon Kil Founder and CEO CS Seoul
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What do you expect to receive from the City Sightseeing brand?
City Sightseeing already has tens of millions of tourists all over the world. Its experience will be greatly helpful for CS Seoul to grow its capabilities in tour services.
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How do you see City Sightseeing expanding throughout Asia?
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The Operation CS Seoul operates four routes passisng through the most exciting areas of Seoul. The operation takes visitors by the most iconic sights, like Gwanghwamun, Namsan Seoul Tower, or Changdeokgung. The routes last from 90 to 120 minutes depending on the route, and there is a 30-minute frequency between the buses. Travellers are able to hop on and off at any of the 57 stops.
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istoric yet modern. Traditional yet pioneering. The vibrant city of Seoul is one of contrasts. “Seoul was the capital city of Chosun Dynasty which lasted over 500 years. During the Chosun Dynasty, the area of Seoul was limited to current Gang-buk, a northern area over Han River. The southern area under Han River is called Gang-nam, and it was recently developed. So, Gang-buk can be considered an ancient city while Gang-nam as a newly developed city. Seoul has two opposing images, and therefore, visitors can enjoy two different experiences in one city” explains Mr. Kil. Popular CS Seoul tour spots include Namsan, a mountain in the middle of Seoul where people can have an entire view of Seoul City, Myeong-dong, a shopping street where foreigners can enjoy street food as well as shopping, Lotte Tower, the sixth tallest building in the world, Sebit-seom, an artificial island located within Seoul, and Bukchon Hanok Village, a collection of traditional Korean houses.
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Highlights The capital and largest metropolis of South Korea Situated along the Han River, surrounded by a mountainous and hilly landscapes, Seoul’s history stretches back over two thousand years The world’s 4th largest metropolitan economy and an emerging tourist destination in Far East Asia
CANADA Niagara ** Toronto
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Chicago * Los Angeles & Hollywood Miami * Natchez New Orleans New York Orlando ** Philadelphia * San Antonio San Francisco (Coming Soon) San Juan Seattle Washington DC *
ICELAND Reykjavik
PORTUGAL Albufeira Aveiro Funchal Lisbon Porto Sintra
PANAMA Panama City COLOMBIA Cartagena
PERU Lima
THE WORLD OF
CITY SIGHTSEEING
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 Galashiels (Scotish Border) Bath Belfast Galway Bournemouth Glasgow Brighton Inverness Cambridge Llandudno & Conwy Cardiff London ** Chester Norwich Derry/Londonderry Oxford Dublin Stratford-upon-Avon Edinburgh York
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo CYPRUS Limassol Ayia Napa (Coming Soon) Larnaca (Coming Soon) CZECH REPUBLIC Prague
RUSSIA Kazan Moscow St. Petersburg
DENMARK Copenhagen
Aarhus
ESTONIA Tallinn FINLAND Helsinki FRANCE Paris * GERMANY Berlin Kiel
LEBANON Beirut SOUTH KOREA Seoul
GREECE Athens & Piraeus Corfu Thessaloniki (Coming Soon) HUNGARY Budapest LATVIA Riga (Coming Soon)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai Sharjah
LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg MALTA Gozo
SAUDI ARABIA Al Madinah
Malta
NETHERLANDS Amsterdam Rotterdam
*
**
Potsdam Trier
ITALY Florence Genoa Livorno Messina Milan Naples Padova Palermo Rome Sorrento Turin Verona
SINGAPORE Singapore
SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town Johannesburg & Soweto
AUSTRALIA Melbourne
NORWAY Alesund Bergen Geiranger
Oslo Stavanger
POLAND Krakow Gdansk
Warsaw
SWEDEN Gothenburg UKRAINE Kiev
Stockholm
IPW – A Major Showcase in the USA From 1st to 5th June, City Sightseeing Worldwide featured at IPW, the leading travel trade show in the United States. This year’s IPW was held in Anaheim, California, and came with plenty of interesting activities along with hard work done at the show.
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Together with the promotion and the opportunity to catch up with the American operators during the trade show, this year’s IPW USA was the perfect chance to celebrate the City Sightseeing brand’s 20th Anniversary in the United States.
rom 1st to 5th June, U.S. travel exhibitors had a chance to connect with travel buyers and media from more than 70 countries to promote their products, negotiate future business, and build relationships during IPW. At this major showcase, City Sightseeing promoted the global brand and the over 100 destinations involved with the international network, especially the 12 City Sightseeing operations in the USA. For the 51st annual travel conference, nearly 7,000 members of the travel industry gathered for the event organised by the US
Travel Association and hosted by Visit California at Hilton Anaheim, in Anaheim, CA.
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In Anaheim, the City Sightseeing Worldwide staff also took part in an activity organised by Tourism Cares. The day before the IPW kick off, our colleagues volunteered to learn about food security and how tourism can play a part while spending the day getting dirty on an urban farm and giving back to the community.
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Party at Decades with our partner The Sightseeing Pass In honour the 20th Anniversary, City Sightseeing Worldwide hosted a great party in partnership with The Sightseeing Pass at Decades Bar and Grill during IPW USA. A total of 200 friends from the travel industry joined us to celebrate with us and enjoyed a lively event filled with live music and delicious food.
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1 Decades Bar and Grill (event venue). 2 Vahid Sapir (CS Hollywood / LA), Charlotte Mander, David Strainge, Sarai Campuzano (CS San Antonio), and Kami Farhadi (CS Hollywood / LA). 3 Antonia Jones, Charlotte Mander, Gary New, Rocio Aparcero, and Chelsey Smith. 4 Richard Kerekes and Paul Seeger (CS New York). 5 Live music at the City Sightseeing/The Sightseeing Pass party. 6 Jayne Stones (Hotelbeds), Gabriel MartĂnez (The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau), and Andrew Brown (WTTC). 7 View of the night club. 23
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ATM Dubai – Bridge to the Eastern Market For yet another year, City Sightseeing Worldwide was present at ATM Dubai, which has become a must in our trade show schedule as a key event both to gain exposure and to seize business opportunities in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
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rom 28th April to 1st May, the Dubai World Trade Cetre (DWTC) held a new edition of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM). In the 26th edition, the Middle East’s largest travel and tourism exhibition attracted 2,500 exhibiting companies from over 150 countries. More than 40,000 travel professionals, government ministers and international press visited ATM to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinions and trends at the leading global event in the region.
Due to our outstanding presence in the UAE, with operations in
Dubai and Shajah providing a great quality service, together with our strong partnership with dnata/Emirates, ATM is one of the most important trade shows attended by the City Sightseeing Worldwide staff, at the same level of WTM London, ITB Berlin, or FITUR Madrid. On another note, Dubai is the perfect place to form strategic partnerships focused on the Asian market, which is one of City Sightseeing’s priorities when looking to expand. With a new and exciting launch in Seoul, South Korea, and many other 24
developments in the works, ATM Dubai is seen as the ideal showcase for the global brand and the place to meet new potential operators and boost global sales. The event generates more than $2.5 billion in travel industry deals. The annual businessto-business (B2B) exhibition showcases over 2,800 products and destinations from around the world to over 28,000 buyers and travel trade visitors across four days at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC).
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1 View of the City Sightseeing stand during the opening by H.E. Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad. 2/3 Welcoming visitors to the stand. 4 GifGif competition at the booth. 5/6 Visitors at the CS stand. 7 Muneer Mohamad (CS Sharjah) and Jeronimo Cardenas (CS Worldwide). 8 View of the CS Stand. 9 20th Anniversary bracelets.
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Johnsons Quality Coach Travel
Booking by
Provided by
Mr. Joe Bloggs
[Supplier Name]
[Supplier Name]
Reference No. CSS0001623034
OPTION
PASSENGERS
Ticket Type .ie General Admission
1 x Adult, 1 x Child
Meeting Point
LANGUAGES
DATE
05/05/2019 09:30 - 17:00
Voucher Information [Supplier] is located at [Address] Upon entry, please go to the main welcome desk to redeem your voucher for access. There is wheelchair access however some areas may be prohibited due to reduced mobility. ID is required upon entry, failure to show this may result in you being unable to gain entry.
Contact For more information contact our local partner [Supplier Name] Or contact our customer service at +44 1789 299123 or send an email to customer@city-sightseeing.com.
City Sightseeing Worldwide
Powered by
Example voucher generated by our partner portal.
Q&A About the New CS Marketplace
What is the new CS Marketplace? The City Sightseeing Marketplace is a centralised system that allows us to connect leading suppliers from across the globe to our extensive reseller network. How is the new CS Marketplace going to benefit the CS operators?
New partner portal to give our B2B network an easy and simple way to access the CS portfolio.
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s City Sightseeing Worldwide continues to grow its portfolio of tours, activities, and attractions, we are very excited to launch a marketplace that allows us to extend our distribution through additional B2B online and offline channels.
This is what you need to know about the City Sightseeing Marketplace just announced to our trade partners. Thanks to our massive network of resellers, your products will gain exposure and will be seen as a more attractive option for international travellers.
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By simplifying the in-destination experience with mobile vouchers and reducing the number of OTA branded vouchers. This will also help us to streamline and improve the administration and invoicing process. How does CS Marketplace work? Our resellers can connect to the Marketplace through API
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Connectivity or by using our new partner portal allowing them to log in and manually purchase our products. What do we need from the CS operators to ensure the CS Marketplace is a success? There are no requirements from the operators although it is important to recognise the new trade vouchers that will be coming into circulation and ensuring that these are accepted in-destination. Is there any cost to the CS operators? No cost! Your products will be imported to the City Sightseeing Marketplace and available to all resellers, entirely free of charge.
Featured at the Conference Antonia Jones (Global Sales Dept.), Carlos Monsalve (IT Dept.), and Gert-Jan Ruiter (PrioTicket) went through the new City Sightseeing Market Place during the 2019 Annual Conference.
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News Discover the latest products, services, and novelties from our providers who are constantly innovating.
UNVI available DDOT Diesel E6, Full electric, Hybrid and CNG/GAS
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n 2018, and again in 2019, we continue to deliver our hugely successful and expanding range of URBIS open-top double-decker models.
With more than 60 units delivered in 2018, the majority were diesel, hybrid and our 100% electric versions. URBIS Open Top Vehicles operate in cities throughout the world, reflecting the outstanding range of climatic roof options available as well as the quality of UNVI products. For 2019 the prospects are even better as we will expand our OPEN TOP range with the introduction of our new CNG/GAS version. Another exciting development is that during 2019 many COMPA T OPEN TOP now with CNG/GAS power and with up to 30 seats will be delivered,
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DESIC, the IT company behind the Annual Conference App
M&E Multimedia & Engineering in Seville’s and Malaga’s tour buses
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id you like the conference app? It was a pleasure meeting several of you this year at the City Sightseeing Annual Conference in Seville. During our presentation, as well as at our exhibition stand, attendees could get some insight as to how Bus Operative can make a big difference in their operations and enhance client satisfaction. Special thanks to everybody who participated in our raffle at the conference. Congratulations again to Kian Farhadi from CS Hollywood & Los Angeles, the winner of the iPad and a 3-month trial of our pilot app.
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his summer new buses will arrive to Seville and Malaga, renewing and improving City Sightseeing Spain operations, but also continuing to rely on M&E Multimedia & Engineering. The multilanguage system will be implemented in three buses. Tourists will be able to continue enjoying the main tourist attractions, monuments and museums of these Andalusian cities. City Sightseeing Spain has relied on M&E in order to ensure tourists enjoy and learn about a city through excellent multilingual audio systems in 16 languages. Each audio system offers information at each point through GPS on different routes. Customers will only have to connect their free headphones, enjoy the views of cities, sit back and enjoy the ride.
At DESIC we are constantly developing new features in addition to already existing functions. Those of you who are already familiar with the three modules of Bus Operative, the mobile application, probably noticed familiar functions as we developed the conference application and embedded it in the CS Spain app. If you want to further explore Bus Operative, turn to the last page and use the QR codes we generated for you to download the app and check it out for yourself. But, please, keep in mind that it is much more than a mobile app: Bus Operative consists of 3 modules, which all work in a synchronized manner. 29
For M&E, being part of the technological improvements for transport fleets is fundamental, given that it constantly works on technological advances for the automotive industry and the tourism sector.
Corporate News from the Global Brand
Partnership with Arival City Sightseeing is partnering with Arival for the next three years and will feature in events in Orlando (October 2019), Berlin (March 2020), and Bangkok (June 2020).
Integrations Update Brand Recognition
Hotelbeds Event
The CS App now scans vouchers from Expedia, GYG, Viator, Civitatis, Tiqets, Isango, Guide & Go, Musement, Klook, Travel Coup, Livn, Project Exp., Groundline, Feel a Place, Headout, Global City Cards, and the CS website.
In May, the City Sightseeing brand was present at Markethub by Hotelbeds, where we took part in a discussion with the key ancillary partners of the company.
A group of tourists are visiting Seville and suddenly they stop and take a picture next to a City Sightseeing branded bicycle we use to deliver brochures throughout the city. Is it all about brand recognition? 30
TopDeck Magazine | #23 | July 2019
CSR
Fund. Balia Charity
Lebanon Scouts
Children’s Day
On 15th May, CS Seville, CS Las Palmas GC, CS Mallorca, and CS Malaga donated €1 per traveller to the Fundación Balia in order to help the foundation raise funds for their projects to help children in need.
In July, a group of scouts enjoyed a ride through their city on a City Sightseeing Beirut open-top double-decker bus. Happy to share these great moments with the children.
On Children’s Day, the company Motoricans organized excursions to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan for children with prosthetic limbs and their parents. A real celebration for our little heroes.
CS Plant Kit
Disabled Surfers
With Tourism Cares
At City Sightseeing, helping make the travel industry more sustainable is always present. All conference attendees received a plant kit to raise awareness about the need to look after the environment.
In May, CS Santander partnered with the Spanish Surfing Championship for the disabled and showed the participants the most exciting sights in Santander.
On 1st June, our colleagues Rocio, Gary, Antonia, Charlotte, and Chelsey volunteered with Tourism Cares and IPW in giving back to the Orange County community.
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CS Operators Outstanding News from Your Operations
Spidey on board! Spider-Man hopped on a CS Hollywood/LA double-decker bus for the premier of the film ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’. Also, Samuel L. Jackson paraded through the streets filled with fans.
And Batman too!
CS Norwich Parade
Belfast Reception
“Who needs a Batmobile when you can have a double-decker bus? Watch out people of Batmania”! Did you know that Melbourne was briefly named ‘Batmania’ after one of its founders, John Batman.
On 5th May, CS Norwich carried the Norwich FC players after their parade bus broke down. It was great publicity and allowed fans to continue celebrating the promotion to the PL.
After conference, The directors of the Best Operator Award winner, CS Belfast were invited to a reception hosted by the president of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Rajesh Rana.
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TopDeck Magazine | #23 | July 2019
Champions in NYC! CS Malaga Cruises In July, CS Malaga presented its new boat – ‘Red Ocean’ with the presence of the Mayor of Malaga, the councillor of Tourism of Malaga, and the President of the Port of Malaga.
CS New York took part in the USA Women’s soccer team championship parade after they won their fourth FIFA World Cup in France.
CS Dubai Awards
Mallorca Open
Epic 48 Hours
During ATM 2019, CS Dubai received the Best Supplier Recognition from Golden Sands Tourism. In return CS Dubai recognised their partner with the Best Performer Award.
In June, CS Mallorca partnered with the Mallorca Open, a WTA tennis tournament. The five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova was among the participants.
On 18th May, CS San Antonio carried the winners of the Z90 San Diego radio station #Epic48Hours contest, who were escorted by the travel blogger Ramblin’ Randy and pop star Ally Brooke.
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CS Family Staff Stories
Tribute to the pioneers During his presentation at the Conference, Daniel Vidal from CS Seville took the opportunity to pay an emotional tribute to some of the people who were present the day the brand launched in 1999.
Our Russian Guests
Happy 4th of July!
New friends!
Adam Lyanov and Ilgar Ibragimov attended the 2019 City Sightseeing Annual Conference as winners of the City Sightseeing Birthday Bash contest in March. Above with Nikolai Bragin from CS Russia.
“Oh say can you see...” Our American mates Lauren, Spencer, and Szarina were surprised on 4th July at the City Sightseeing Worldwide HQ with a special celebration on their national day.
With the launch of CS Seoul we have not only added an exciting destination to our portfolio, we have made a lot of friends! Don’t hesitate to fly to Seoul and meet their lovely staff.
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TopDeck TopDeck Magazine Magazine | #21 | #23 | January | July 2019
Biking in Dubai!
At Arival Bangkok
Russian ‘Matadors’
During ATM Dubai, our partner from dnata Iain Andrew took Enrique Ybarra and Antonio Ortega on a bike tour in the desert. They also had a chance to see an Oryx!
Hannah Hartigan and Charli Preston travelled to Bangkok in order to attend Arival, the most important conference in the tours & attractions sector, where CS destinations were promoted.
Sergei Lavrentyev and Nikolai Bragin surprised everyone at the Annual Conference’s Gala Dinner when they attended in authentic bullfighter outfits. The dress code didn’t say it was forbidden!
CS Running Team
CS Uniform Kilt
DESIC Raffle
On 5th July, our colleagues from CS Seville and CS Worldwide took part in a nocturnal race sponsored by City Sightseeing. It became the first race named after the CS brand.
In the picture above, see CS Glasgow driver Jim with his kilt, the perfect way to soak up the sun in Glasgow. It is not the proper CS uniform but it sure is cool!
Kian Farhadi from CS Hollywood & Los Angeles was the raffle winner of the iPad and a 3-month trial of the DESIC pilot app iat the Conference. Congratulations!
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SuperPosts Best of Social Media
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e are thrilled to see all the time and effort you have invested in creating fantastic social media posts. Throughout the past months we have seen very interesting and engaging content on a number of social media profiles on the three major platformsFacebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Lauren Mogannam Online Communications Manager
Here is a small selection of great posts we have seen on topics ranging from reasons to visit a certain city to what you can see off of certain stops to special guests hopping on to giving back to the communities City Sightseeing operaes in. Keep up the fabulous work everyone!
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 | #23 | July 2019
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The Wall
Social stories
Twitter | Facebook | TripAdvisor | TrustPilot | Viator | GetYourGuide @VosJames - Cape Town. Thank you @CapeTownRedBus for an awesome experience with the tourism industry and the mayor. #LoveCapeTown #NextLevelTourism #EconomicOpportunities Olga M. – Moscow. Thank you so much for the wonderful service! We looked at all of Moscow and from the ground and from the water. Unforgettable impressions! Were in Moscow City on the 89th floor. Breathtaking with delight. You have presented admiration and comfort when meeting with our capital. Thank you very much! Flourish! And we are going to St. Petersburg, we will definitely continue the excursions around the 2nd capital with your company! 582v_niam - Belfast. Very good experience. Showing all the main things and well explained. Highly recommended to everyone. Natalie - Cape Town. Patrick Y. – Amsterdam: A great way to see the highlights of the city. Was great to mix getting on and off a bus or boat at different parts of the city. Great for getting a whistle stop tour and our bearings for the rest of our stay.
Rita H. – Oxford. Great bus ride all around the city. You can hop on and off as many times as you like and learn a bit of history on the way. Thought it was very enjoyable and relaxing and the guides really know their stuff.
Beatriz – Oslo. Good way to get to know Oslo. Good and entertaining comments. Very friendly staff. Lauren Ashley – New Orleans. Fabulous time on and off the bus. Different experiences each time with each tour guide. Wish I would’ve had a 3 day pass instead of 1. FLPapa – San Antonio. The 3-day hop-on/hop-off is an efficient way to get around San Antonio. We did the entire tour the first day, and the other two days used the bus to get where we wanted to go. Therefore, we had several drivers/guides. They were all good in their own right, and each one gave a little different twist to the information. The river cruise and Tower of the Americas were enjoyable. Overall, this was a tremendous bargain for the price. Marcia - Lisbon. Chris A: I don’t do hop-on hop-off tours but it was a great way to see key sites in the city in a short space of time . I normally walk or catch public transport. The bus tour was great to work out where I should spend time and really helped with the city’s layout.. Ian Cameron – Toronto. My wife and I took several of hop on hop off buses over a two day period, we found the staff to be both very friendly and informative. We also had the bonus of the free boat tour of the Toronto islands, which by luck was on a very sunny morning and great way to see one of the best View’s of the Toronto skyline. Claudia L. - Toledo. Buena atención del personal en Toledo, increíble ciudad que hemos podido disfrutar al completo con el bus turístico y las visitas guiadas. Definitivamente seguiré contratando sus servicios en los próximos viajes!.
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:
Perfect time management with Bus2App There is a bus in 40 minutes. Peter sets an alarm, which notifies him when the bus is going to approach the nearest stop. Meanwhile, he could peacefully visit a nearby attraction, without any rush.
Peter is visiting the wonderful city of Seville, and has decided to hop back on again the CS double-decker bus.
“Let's check the timetable of the buses on the CSS Spain mobile app!�
Later, the alert is ringing on his mobile phone, and notifies him that the Bus arrives soon.
Peter reaches the bus stop in time, and enjoys further the art and history of Seville, without losing any precious moments.
To be continued... DESIC developed the official app of the Annual Conference in Seville Therefore, many of you are already familiar with one of the three modules of Bus Operative, the mobile application. Make sure to download by using the QR code below, and check it out yourself.
+34 928 374 026 www.desic-sl.com busoperative@desic-sl.com