Top Deck #18

Stage II/Issue 18

Locally written, globally distributed

The CS Marathon Challenge Mission Accomplished!! eeing ts h ig S y it C in o h W ho’s / Special Feature W & more in rl e B B IT , d ri d a M R / Trade Shows FITU In this issue. SevilleBerlinMelbourneMoscowSt. PetersburgKazanDubaiParisLimaNew YorkTorontoLondonSingaporeBrusselsStockholmDublinPrague

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, I want to share with you the amazing experience that the City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge was for all the team involved with this worldwide campaign. To see our first winners ever crossing the finish line was really inspirational. Furthermore, to make their dreams of running in the Seville Marathon come true was very satisfying. That is why we wanted to dedicate our Top Deck front cover to this fabulous project and we are looking forward to the next edition very soon.

On the other hand, we have boosted important projects to promote the global brand and the over 100 operations. Trade Shows are always among our most important initiatves, especially between January and March, as two of the most important events in the travel industry happen during this time – FITUR Madrid and ITB Berlin. In this edition you can read more about them.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is also becoming more and more relevant within the City Sightseeing network. Apart from the local actions you all do in your cities, we are proud to announce a global agreement with one of the most important non-profit organisations in the travel industry – Tourism Cares. Together I am sure we can show our commitment to the environment and the cities in which we operate.

These topics and many others will be presented in detail in Dubai at the end of April during our Annual Conference. I will be more than happy to meet you in this world-class destination and enjoy some fantastic days our partners of dnata / Emirates Group have planned for us.

Yours sincerely,

03

Stage II/Issue 18

Locally written, globally distributed

The CS Marathon Challenge Mission Accomplished!! s Who in City Sightseeing / Special Feature Who’ more Madrid, ITB Berlin & / Trade Shows FITUR In this issue. Al-MadinahOrlandoGdanskGalashielsAarhusAntequeraNerjaWashington DCBerlinNew YorkSt PetersburgNorwichOsloSantanderSharjah

/ Staff Editor Antonio M. Ortega. press@city-ss.com Associate editor Richard Morgan.

Contributing writers Lauren Mogannam, Oliver Nicholls, Sergei Lavrentyev, Rosana Pajaron, Mara Ruiz, Oscar Carheden, Enrique Osborne, James Wray, George Grimley, Dorottya Torok, David McMaster, Manu Rios, Jane Marshall, Mohamed Mouhadda, Jaime Ruiz.

Production Antonio M. Ortega.

Publisher City Sightseeing Worldwide 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 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.

Promotion at the world’s most important travel trade shows 06/07

18/19

28/29

Report: Travel & Tourism City Impact

Destination: Russia

Special Feature: New CS Marketplace

08/09

The World of City Sightseeing

20/21

Inverview: Rochelle Turner – WTTC Research Director

10/12 Front Page: The CS Marathon Challenge

14/15 Views expressed in the pages of TOP DECK are not necessarily those of City Sightseeing Worldwide, their Franchisees, Associates and Partners or the Editors.

Special Feature: Partnership with Tourism Cares

16/17

22/23 Special Feature: Q1 Trade Shows

24/25

30/31 Gallery / Corporate News

32/33 Gallery / Tour News

Interview: Iain Andrew – dnata / Emirates Group

34/35

26/27

Gallery / The Best of Social Media

Suppliers: Latest News

Gallery / Staff stories

36/37

38

Destination: Melbourne

The Wall 04

TopDeck Magazine | nยบ18 | Enero 2018

READY TO RUN and save fuel

With more than 3000 hybrid buses in operation, Volvo is the world leader. Perhaps explained by the fact that we offer the most fuel-efficient and reliable hybrid bus on the market: with significant fuel savings, reduced emissions and proven to be No. 1 hybrid in uptime.

The Volvo B5LH Hybrid will turn your city into a better place, combining capacity and environmental care.

Electric drive is far more efficient than combustion. In addition energy is constantly recovered when braking and going downhill. Furthermore, passengers on-board, at the bus stop as well as nearby residents will enjoy the silent take off in electric mode.

Welcome to join our journey towards cleaner and profitable public transportation at volvobuses.es

VOLVO B5LH HYBRID

05

25,10 Billion

3.2

230.07 9.31

PARIS

23,70 Billion

3.5

16,70 Billion

1.9

12,40 Billion

4.3

SINGAPORE

11,41 Billion

T

The study focused on 65 global cities, which were chosen for being among the top ranked for arrivals and spending by visitors.

Collectively, these cities directly contributed nearly one quarter (24%) of the sector’s world direct GDP and 12.3% of its jobs.

100 164.02 17,83

1.2

2.3 188.50 7,26

LOS ANGELES

ravel & Tourism is one of the largest sectors in the world, supporting more than 10% of global GDP and 292 million jobs: 1 in 10 jobs worldwide. It is big business that happens mainly in cities. Now the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has released findings that look at the economic and employment impacts of the industry in urban areas.

18.6 227.90 16.98

LONDON

Today, 54.5% of the world’s population lives in urban areas that, on the other hand, hold most of the international arrivals. Tourism is all about cities.

4.7 297.90 20.50

NEW YORK

Travel & Tourism City Impact

27.9

11,36 Billion

9.4

60.9 169.08 21,89

DUBAI

Among these major destinations we have focused on the cities involved with the City Sightseeing global brand in order to discover how the travel industry impacts them and to demonstrate how CS operations contribute to economic growth.

Singapore, Moscow, Cape Town, Dubai or New York are some of the destinations featured.

06

8,70 Billion

ROME

4,9

10,1 119.07 9,12

GDP Direct Contribution in 2016 (US$ bn)

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

8,21 Billion

4,5

145.73 1,83

CHICAGO

7,92 Billion

5,3

6,72 Billion

4,0

5,52 Billion

3,7

BRUSSELS

5,29 Billion

5,3

77.40 5,09

SAN FRANCISCO

4,90 Billion

2,7

4,58 Billion

AMSTERDAM

% of the city

4,1

% of the country

15,8 83.35 2,47

4,17 Billion

1.5

26,4 106.57 3,33

MOSCOW

3,77 Billion

4,9

44,1 98.84 4,25

WARSAW

3,23 Billion

1,9

59,1 22.38 8,27

DUBLIN

2,96 Billion

5,0

60,3 99.39 5,30

PRAGA

2,03

31,7 88.55 10,60

1,5

TORONTO

38,1 60.07 5,30

STOCKHOLM

Billion

1,1

59,1 181.57 2,51

4,39

52,6 52.76 5,66

4,6

LIMA

4,9 145.50 6,19

BERLIN

Billion

12,4 104.10 12,19

BARCELONA

4,49

1,6

Billion

7,5

23,4 158.47 2,01

CAPE TOWN

Inbound Tourism Spending (US$ bn)

Employment Contribution (000s) 07

The Role of Governments “As the world rapidly urbanises, there is a need to manage that growth with effective planning.

A successful city is one where business, infrastructure, resources, and environment meet with quality jobs and effective government support.”

Gloria Guevara President & CEO World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) According to the UN, the urban population of the world has grown rapidly from 746 million in 1950 to over four billion in 2016, and today, 54.5% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. This proportion is expected to increase to 60% by 2050, with nearly all of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. With international tourism arrivals set to rise to 1.8 billion a year by 2030, and billions more domestic trips expected, the city share of these arrivals is showing particular growth.

Rochelle Turner Research Director at WTTC Rochelle Turner has spent her whole career in consumer and market research within the tourism sector. She has held senior roles at Which?, the UK’s consumer organisation, TUI Travel and MORI. Today, Rochelle is responsible for the design and execution of the research that underpins the work of the WTTC.

1

What would be for you the main conclusion of the City Impact research?

The results show that Travel & Tourism had exceptional growth last year buoyed by thriving economies, solid consumer confidence and low oil prices.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Travel & Tourism sector has outperformed the global economy and in 2017 was the fastest growing broad economic sector globally, showing stronger growth than all sectors including manufacturing (4.2%), retail and wholesale (3.4%), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (2.6%) and financial services (2.5%).

2

How this growth can be sustainable, especially in cities?

Travel & Tourism must be developed in balance with the other needs of a destination.

Doing this effectively and for the long term means collecting quality data on the indicators that the destination needs to thrive - resource use and efficiency, resident opinion, education, skill and training levels etc., setting

thresholds and then measuring and monitoring those indicators on a regular basis. It is only when the whole environment, economy and all stakeholders are involved and considered that true sustainability occur. The UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development gave Travel & Tourism an incredible opportunity to showcase the benefits that the sector can bring to economies and societies around the world.

be for the long term. Destinations often don’t understand that a problem could be brewing until it’s too late because the right data isn’t being collected nor are holistic management plans in place. As a result of working with McKinsey & Company, WTTC recommend destinations to:

3

2/ establish a sustainable growth strategy,

What region do you see taking up the baton of leading the industry?

Asia-Pacific is exciting in its tourism development as more people move into an economic level where they can travel and experience the world for the first time. As an example of this, in 2017, Chinese Travel & Tourism grew in size by almost US$100 billion, more than any other economy in the world.

4

How do you see the future with challenges like overtourism?

We get pockets of overcrowding in tourism when the destination isn’t managed as well as it needs to 08

1/ build a comprehensive fact base and update it regularly,

3/ involve all sections of society and, 4/ find new sources of funding.

Destinations can implement solutions such as smoothing visitors over times of day, days of week or months so that there are more even flows, to spread visitors to new parts of a destination rather than the ‘honey pot’ sites (we see examples of cities promoting less well-known neighbourhoods with campaigns such as ‘live like a local’), adjusting pricing to balance supply and demand, regulate accommodation supply and at an extreme, where necessary, even limiting access and activities.

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

In Figures • US$8.3 trillion contribution to global GDP (10.4%) • 313 million jobs, 1 in 10 jobs around the world • US$1.5 trillion exports (6.5% of total exports, 28.8% of global services exports) • US$882 billion investment (4.5% of total investment) Rochelle Turner – WTTC 09

Mission accomplished!

O n 25th February, over 13,000 runners crossed the finish line at the Cartuja Stadium in Seville. It was a special moment for them as they were able to complete the distance of 42.195 kilometres, over 26 miles. For three of these tireless runners it was also their dream race.

The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge kicked off in Seville, with vision for future marathons!

People who love to run and who love to travel and are interested in combining both passions- this was the starting point of The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge, the global campaign focused on combining these two interests.

10

From 25th January to 5th February, runners from all over the world had the opportunity to experience a once-in-a-lifetime adventure – travel to a famous destination and take part in an IAAF Gold Label race. Hotel, flights, accommodations, meals, transfers, and bib numbers were all included, along with a personalized sightseeing experience. They only had to bring their shoes with them!

We received hundreds of applications at through the campaign’s website and we finally awarded three lucky individuals – Francisco Fernandez, from

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

In Figures The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge opened applications from 25th January to 5th February. In this short time frame we received a total of 743 participations, especially from the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and the USA. The campaign’s site received over 17,000 visits and the Facebook posts on the campaign reached over 65,000 users.

That’s big exposure, but it has just begun!

Highlights Trujillo (Spain) was the fastest man with a best personal time of 2:45:26; Diana Kürrer, from Munich (Germany) as the fastest woman with a PB of 3:30:14; and Gerard Dypiangco, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles (USA), as the best story submitted.

From 23rd to 26th February, our three lucky winners enjoyed an unforgettable experience in Seville. See this for yourself by taking a look at The City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge Diaries at the site themarathonchallenge.com.

During their weekend in Seville, Francisco, Diana, and Gerard had the opportunity to discover the city from the opentop of a City Sightseeing bus. They also visited the Cathedral and the Royal Palace.

At the Seville Marathon, Francisco beat his PB with – 2:45:00; Diana beat her PB with 3:22:36; and Gerard finished a marathon 25 years after his last attempt!

Stay tuned for the next edition of the City Sightseeing Marathon Challenge, which will be announced later this year.

11

1

2

3

4

5

1 Francisco crossing the Plaza de EspaĂąa during the marathon. 2 Our winners hold their Seville Marathon medals. 3 Gerard running his heart out. 4 Isaac passing next the Torre del Oro (km 5). 5 Enrique and Diana at the finish line right after she finished the marathon.

12

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

Corporate Design Ergonomic Fit Breathable Fabric 100% Heart

Discover the New Additions to the

Purchasing Catalogue Visit operators.city-sightseeing.com

13 10

Tourism Cares for Bangkok voluntaries in 2017

Partnership with Tourism Cares City Sightseeing strengthened its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy by signing an agreement with the charitable community of the travel and tourism industry. From now on, we will help Tourism Cares advance the travel industry’s social impact to help people and places thrive.

I

n February, City Sightseeing Worldwide officially partnered with Tourism Cares. As the global brand is always looking for new ways to get involved with our network’s communities, we have always seen Tourism Cares as the non-profit community that could allow us to do just that.

After collaborating with them in some programs in the past years, both organisations have signed a partnership in line with City Sightseeing’s corporate social responsibility agenda.

Tourism Cares was founded in 2003 by NTA and USTOA, with representation from ASTA, IATAN, and many of the industry’s leading companies and associations. Since then, it has united leaders in the travel industry and undertaken several projects to advance the sector’s social impact on people and places around the globe.

The ultimate goal is to help destinations in need and improve the travel industry’s corporate social responsibility as a whole.

14

Since 2003, volunteers from the travel industry have donated over 50,000 hours of their time and over $1 million to give back to the North American communities they work in every day.

City Sightseeing has worked with Tourism Cares in the past as a participant in different World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) events, however, this year we wanted to solidify our relationship with this magnificent organization that works tirelessly to bring the

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

travel industry’s leaders to give back to the communities most in need.

As Mike Rea, former CEO of Tourism Cares said in Top Deck #16, “City Sightseeing is in a special position to make a difference, with its own practices but also with its access to customers.”

With an incredible global platform that also is clientfacing, we have the possibility of boosting different causes

around cities: urban heritage and community tourism; job training for the disadvantaged or homeless; or some combo that might also include the environment and awareness of our carbon footprint.

In this new venture, we are facing new projects with the help of Tourism Cares in other parts of the world. In 2018 we are participating in Tourism Cares for New Orleans, which is focused on rebuilding areas that were greatly affected by past hurricanes.

Bangkok’17 During summer 2017, I experienced firsthand the value that Tourism Cares offers to local communities when I took part in the WTTC activity in Bangkok. Clearing polluted mangroves and planting new trees were just some of the activities undertaken and it was genuinely heart-warming to see the effects our efforts had on local people.

Interview with Mike Rea in Top Deck #16.

Corporate Social Responsibility One of the undertakings for City Sightseeing in 2018 is to focus on Corporate Social Responsibility and get a global snapshot of what all our City Sightseeing operators are doing and what we can do together to give back to the communities we work in.

Whether assisting operators introduce electric buses or volunteering at charity events, we are starting many new initiatives at the corporate level and would love to hear what your operations have been doing.

As we move forward in 2018, we hope to continue working on several projects and highlighting what all of you do with regards to social responsibility.

Please share with us what your operation has been doing to give back.

Download the PDF by following this link: http://bit.ly/2D63loO and send us to topdeck@city-sightseeing.com.

15

Tourism Cares is a leading sustainability organisation and as we solidify our relationship by joining the Chairman’s Circle, we will be active in events all around the world.

As Head of Global Distribution and Commercial Partnerships, Oliver Nicholls is the main architect of the agreement between City Sightseeing and Tourism Cares.

Melbourne Melbourne is the easternmost destination in the City Sightseeing international network. A city with plenty of eccentric culture, food, music, art and people.

1

What do you think Melbourne is bringing to the City Sightseeing portfolio?

Melbourne is a city like no other and we think that by being a part of the City Sightseeing family Melbourne brings with it its unique cultural diversity and distinctive history.

Ronald Spiteri General Manager CS Melbourne

2

And how do you see the City Sightseeing brand helping your operation?

The City Sightseeing brand helps our operation as people from all around the globe come to Melbourne asking for the City Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off 16

knowing the brands reputation and trusting it. Frequent City Sightseeing users are also familiar with our operation, which makes it easier for us as the operators and for the customers, as they already know how the service runs.

3

How do you see the global brand in 5-10 years time?

The only direction the brand is going is up. I can see many more branches of City Sightseeing opening up in more corners of the world. This will help create a more globalised brand where people from all corners of the World will know our brand.

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

The operation “Our entire operation is based around Melbourne’s highlights, all of the city’s best features are only a stop away from exploring. In combination with this, we also offer discounted or combined tickets with most of the venues / attractions along our 27 stops. For a hasslefree trip in and out of the city, we also give FREE Airport transfers to our 48hr Pass customers.”

I

n 2017, Melbourne was declared by the Economist Intelligence Unit the world’s most liveable city for the seventh year in a row.

As a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region, but also as a culture hub, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria is a destination you have to visit at least once in your life. Melbourne is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a major centre for street art, music, and theatre. Furthermore, there are plenty of attractions with lots of things to see and do.

With two bus routes and two guided walking tours, City Sightseeing Melbourne is the perfect way to get to all these landmarks.

Highlights The second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania Not only the cultural capital of the country but also the sporting capital- home to AFL football, cricket and horse racing, the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam tournament and a Formula One Grand Prix Stylish, arty and ‘hipster’ before the word became popular.

17

Russia In June and July, Russia hosts the FIFA World Cup, one of the most important sport events which is sure to bring thousands of visitors.

1

How do you think the FIFA World Cup will boost tourism in Russia? Has the government released any forecast?

We expect at least 1 million more tourists in Russia. The visawaiver program for the period will definitely help make the World Cup a success in terms of international arrivals.

Nikolai Bragin Managing Director CS Russia

2

You are present in three cities that will hold games?

What are your feelings regarding these important days for your operations?

We are very excited and that’s why we have bought 6 more 18

buses: 3 for Moscow, 2 for St Petersburg, and 1 for Kazan.

3

Your opportunity to encourage CS operators to visit Russia in 2018...

Of course we invite all to take advantage of the visa-waiver program. We shall personally take care of every single CS operator if they choose to visit Russia. We shall plan a lot of special events for our CS family members.

4

You are used to surprise us in many ways, what are you preparing to gain visibility during the World Cup? It’s a surprise!

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

A Major Event The organisation forecasts to welcome nearly one million visitors from the 32 countries taking part in the competition.

Furthermore, as the 2014 FIFA World Cup reached 3.2 billion viewers, similar figures are expected in Russia.

All this has made football’s main event a great showcasing opportunity for host cities.

T

he World Cup will be hosted by 11 Russian cities, three of them are involved with the City Sightseeing international network: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Kazan. All these destinations are working to create an unforgettable experience, welcoming everyone who wants to experience this footoball celebration. As an example, Russia is facilitating visa-free entries for those who buy any ticket for any WC game.

City Sightseeing Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kazan are also preparing a special offer for the football fans visiting their cities. Our colleague Nikolai Bragin encourage us to visit Russia this summer, but “be aware of booking your hotel well in advance�, says Nikolai.

Highlights Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation and one of the most renowned and fascinating cities in the world. It hosts the Opening Match and other three Group Matches, the semi-final & the Final St. Petersburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the venue for Group Matches, a Round of 16 game, semi-final and match for third place Kazan, one of the oldest Russian cities, is home to the games of France, Australia, Spain, Poland, Colombia and Germay, among others, together with Round of 16 and Quarter-Finals

19

CANADA Toronto

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

PANAMA Panama City

ICELAND Reykjavik

PORTUGAL Albufeira Aveiro Funchal Lisbon Porto Sintra

COLOMBIA Cartagena PERU Lima

THE WORLD OF

CITY SIGHTSEEING 20

SPAIN Antequera Arrecife Barcelona* Benalmadena Cadiz Cordoba Jerez Las Palmas Gran Canaria Lleida Malaga Nerja Palma de Mallo rca Santander Seville Toledo

U B B B B C C C D D E

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 Windsor Edinburgh York

TopDeck Magazine | nยบ18 | Enero 2018 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo (Coming Soon)

BELGIUM Brussels CYPRUS Ayia Napa (Coming Soon) Larnaca (Coming Soon) Limassol (Coming Soon)

RUSSIA Kazan Moscow St. Petersburg

CZECH REPUBLIC Prague DENMARK Aarhus

Copenhagen

ESTONIA Tallinn FINLAND Helsinki FRANCE Paris GEORGIA Tbilisi GERMANY Berlin Kiel GREECE Athens & Piraeus Corfu

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai Sharjah SAUDI ARABIA Al Madinah

HUNGARY Budapest SINGAPORE Singapore

LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg MALTA Gozo

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

Potsdam Trier

SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town Johannesburg & Soweto

AUSTRALIA Melbourne

NETHERLANDS Rotterdam Amsterdam NORWAY Alesund Bergen Geiranger

Oslo Stavanger

POLAND Gdansk Warsaw

Krakรณw

SWEDEN Gothenburg UKRAINE Kiev 21

Malta

Stockholm

1

Trade Shows First Quarter Events

Promotion of the City Sightseeing operations at the most important events of the tourism sector.

T

he travel industry meets every year in some outstanding occasions, such as trade shows. They are the perfect meeting places to discuss new trends, network, and learn from others’ experiences.

FITUR in Madrid and ITB in Berlin are among the most important professional events City Sightseeing attends.

Jan-Mar 2018 FITUR Madrid ITB Berlin Seatrade Global

From 17th to 21st January, nearly 10,000 exhibiting companies from 165 countries/regions featured in the Spanish show. In addition, more than 135,000 trade participants and 107,000 people from the general public visited IFEMA in the exhibiting days. The City Sightseeing brand together 22

with the destinations involved with the international network showcased at an impressive, colorful stand in Pavilion 8.

ITB is the World’s leading travel trade show with 160,000 square meters in Messe Berlin to present exciting novelties from destinations from more than 180 countries. Each year, ITB attracts 1,000 qualified top buyers, 10,000 exhibitors, 28,000 convention visitors and 109,000 trade visitors.

Finally, City Sightseeing was present at Seatrade Cruise Global, the cruise industry’s premier event, from 5th to 8th March in Florida, USA.

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

Authorities

2

The City Sightseeing stand is usually the meeting place for the prominent players of the cities and regions where we operate, as well as international organisations. This time we were honoured with the visits of the President of the WTTC Gloria Guevara, the President of the Castilla-La Mancha region Emiliano GarcĂ­aPage, the Mayors of Seville, Juan Espadas, and Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and the Tourism Councillors of Cordoba and Nerja, among others.

3

4

5

7

8 23

6 1 View of the CS stand at FITUR. 2 Visit of the WTTC and the Japan Association of Travel Agents. 3 With Mauro Braghese and Gaetano Casilli (CS Rome). 4 Spanish operators.

5 With Marie Johansson (CS Stockholm). 6 With Christian Watts (CS San Francisco). 7 With Dirk Lubbers and Wim van Meerveld (CS Amsterdam). 8 Stand at ITB.

Iain Andrew Divisional Senior Vice President – Travel Services at dnata / Emirates Group Before joining Emirates Group in December 2005, Iain Andrew was a veteran of the travel industry, with experience in leading companies like Thomas Cook and American Express, among others. Mr. Andrew is responsible for all aspects of dnata’s travel business across 7 countries in the Middle East, as well as international investments.

1

From the privileged viewpoint of an international leading company like dnata / Emirates Group in a top destination like Dubai, what do you see as the main challenges for the travel industry today?

Security is no doubt one of the challenges the world faces, not only our sector. Although, it does impact us directly, particularly when a security incident occurs – understandably it impacts and changes peoples’ travel plans. We have to face this challenge with confidence, ensure we look after our customers, and make sure they feel safe and secure when they are dealing with us.

One other big factor for the travel industry is sustainability and the environment. We all need to take responsibility for this, which is a challenge when your business involves planes flying, buses driving, etc. We must think of ways to reduce our impact on the environment, whenever possible, and dnata has a number of initiatives already in place to this effect. Finally, the one that is probably having the biggest

transformational impact on our sector… technology.

Travel companies are having to become technology companies, in order to keep up with other industries and stay relevant to customers looking to research and purchase. The pace that technology is moving does present a challenge, but we must respond to this by remaining open and willing to change, and be forwardthinking and agile enough to adapt.

2

How do you see your corporation, dnata, in 5 to 10 years time?

We will continue to be global, and will appropriately expand our reach. We want to remain in the lives of our customers, making sure that those people booking with us today will still see a reason to book with us in 5 or 10 years time. We will continue to work on ensuring lifetime appeal to our customers – being relevant to them regardless of their life or attitudinal stage. We will also make sure that the UAE stays firmly within our focus, as we continue to support inbound travel to the country.

24

3

dnata is used to working on a wide range of tourism products and services. What is the role of the City Sightseeing service within this framework?

City Sightseeing is a foundation product – it gets people into the excursion market as a start point.

It offers a familiar face from city to city, and that has great value and importance. We will continue to build on this, and make the connections and synergies between the City Sightseeing proposition and other cross-sell opportunities and experiences for our customers.

4

Expo 2020 Dubai is on the horizon. What do you expect from it?

I expect a great Expo. Dubai does everything well, and this will be no exception. The plans that are in place look absolutely fantastic, and you can feel the work to build up to this important event underway now. The infrastructure, technology developments and new attractions are standing Dubai in great stead to deliver an excellent Expo, and I look forward to seeing how this opportunity is grasped and extended beyond 2020.

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

Dubai 2018 What do you think the CS operators can learn from Dubai during the Annual Conference that they can implement in their cities and operations?

How is Dubai leading the industry?

“Dubai moves fast – speed is important, and it can make a difference between being a leader and a follower.”

Iain Andrew – dnata / Emirates Group 25

News Discover the latest product, services and novelties from the travel industry through our providers’ innovations.

New Unvi Electric Double-Decker: Broadening the Product Range

U

nvi keeps on selling its successful product Urbis Double-Decker Open Top, which is already operating in more than 34 countries. This vehicle stands out for its design, quality and innovation.

Urbis DD Open Top can be seen as part of the urban landscape in most European capitals and historical cities but also in other destinations. All in all, there are more than 400 vehicles circulating worldwide.

Unvi is broadening its product range, developing new sustainable transport solutions and adding them to their already existing options. These new solutions are the Urbis DD Open Top Hybrid (more than 15 units delivered) and the new Urbis Electric DD Open Top. The new Urbis Electric DD Open Top is a 100% electric powered vehicle, which was developed by Unvi in collaboration with Ziehl-Abegg, BMZ and SAV Studio.

The basic parameters of the electric bus are therefore the same as those of a conventionally powered bus for sightseeing tours, but with huge advantages in terms of noise and reduction of polluting emissions.

The first vehicle has already been delivered to its customer and there are other units to be delivered in the coming months.

26

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

Volvo Buses Passenger Survey revealed

Explore Dubai with DESIC

V

B

olvo Buses has analysed what bus passengers want: “Yes to wi-fi and comfortable seats, but no to sharp knees and bare feet” Some people want a three-course dinner, others prefer to surf, chat, or to just relax.

Almost half are interested in safety and a massive two-thirds reveal that they use seat belts on coach trips. These are some of the results of Volvo Buses’ passenger survey, conducted in six European countries.

us Operative not only makes your job easier but also provides an excellent experience to the tourists in all the cities they want to explore.

It takes continuous effort to maintain high customer satisfaction levels, therefore, we consistently make developments in response to your needs and those of your clients. ...NOW AVAILABLE IN DUBAI TOO!!...

You can now experience all the great things Bus Operative can provide. Enjoy the journey during the “2018 City Sightseeing Annual Conference” as much as your customers would and let us show you how to control your fleet through our smart system.

All told, 6000 people who have travelled by tourist coach or long-distance bus in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden were interviewed for their opinions on what it takes to make a bus trip a positive experience.

Ticketing made easy...

“Together with our customers we work constantly to make bus travel as appealing and competitive as possible. With this regard, passenger viewpoints are immensely important. Through our surveys we see that most of the passenger viewpoints are pretty similar in all the countries, but there are also some things that set them apart,” says Niklas Orre, VP Strategy and Product Management at Volvo Buses.

27

Besides many improvements to facilitate the work of your operations management, we offer a new feature delivered through our mobile application through in which tourists can purchase tickets directly.

Discover the real smart travel system, discover Bus Operative.

City Sightseeing Seville staff scanning vouchers

New City Sightseeing Marketplace City Sightseeing Operators can now redeem and validate tickets with just one App. Thanks to a new system developed hand-in-hand with our technology partner, PrioTicket, operators will save time and money. Furthermore, they are now able to provide customers with a hassel-free way of redeeming their tickets.

A

fter years of using paper vouchers, we are finally embracing digital ticket scanning. Over the last year, City Sightseeing has been working tirelessly with PrioTicket to provide all City Sightseeing operators with a way to digitally scan vouchers and finally go paperless!

With the new application, operators are able to scan mobile vouchers, which are reflected in the system instantly. This allows all involved to avoid a tedious invoicing process.

Now, operators are able to save

time and money when it comes to ticketing.

Furthermore, City Sightseeing is providing this service to the whole international network and every operator will be able to use this technology at no extra cost.

There is even more news- apart from the City Sightseeing website vouchers, we have integrated this new system with the leading OTAs – Expedia, Viator and GetYourGuide. More OTA’s are coming on board and we will be 28

communicating them in the near future, starting with Musement, Tiqets, Headout, Veltra, Civitatis, and Hotelbeds.

For those City SIghtseeing Operators using Palisis or the PrioTicket ticketing system, they do not need to do anything as the Marketplace is completely integrated. For those who do not have these systems, the new Marketplace Scanning system is available just by downloading the App in mobile devices either Android or iOS.

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

01

Download The City Sightseeing Marketplace APP is available both for Android and iOS devices in the APP Stores.

Go Paperless!

02

Voucher redemption is a key stepping stone for City Sightseeing as we continue to revolutionise the hopon hop-off industry.

It’s a very simple action in your dayto-day, which will have a huge impact the overall customer experience – mobile vouchers!

Connect We will provide the City Sightseeing operators with usernames and passwords.

03

Scan Ticket With the APP you are able to scan QR codes from vouchers of the City Sightseeing web site and all of our partners in the industry.

The Marketplace will consolidate all your bookings in one place and provide a complete overview.

All the tickets you scan will automatically trigger our invoicing process on a monthly basis, reducing administration time and speeding up the payment process.

04

You’re all set!

Now you don’t need to work with paper vouchers anymore.

Martin Miodownik is IT Manager in City Sightseeing Worldwide and has worked closely with PrioTicket to develop the new scanning App and its integration with your ticketing system.

29

Corporate News from the Global Brand

New Manuals New Corporate Identity, Social Media and Operation Manuals will be released at this year’s Annual Conference.

If you are not able to attend, don’t worry, digital copies will be sent out.

HQ Extension

New Blog

Purchasing Catalogue

The City Sightseeing Head Office in Seville is expanding, as the team is growing. Now, we have an extension on a different floor in the same building.

We are happy to let you know about a new channel to connect with our customers worldwide – our very own blog.

Check it out at http://citysightseeing.com/blog

At the Annual Conference you will be able to uncover new providers and discover new supplies.

You can also find them in our Purchasing Catalogue at http://operators.citysightseeing.com

30

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

CSR

E-buses in Oxford

...And in Italy!

Safety in Dubai

Five open-top sightseeing buses from CS Oxford are going to be retrofitted to become fully electric with the support of the city council of Oxford. We are looking forward to see them touring the city!

The CS operations in Italy are on their way to adopting the ‘green’ turnaround decreed in the Italian Plan on Tourist Mobility thanks to an agreement to be signed with Enel.

CS Dubai have installed safety belts for all seats on buses, which run along avenues where traffic speeds are high. Both insurance companies and clients highly value the commitment to safety.

Norwich Charity

Free Tour in Sharjah El Bus de la Ilusion

A vintage double-decker bus used for festive sightseeeing tours of Norwich in December helped raise £1,500 for charity. Above, David McMaster holds a check for the funds raised.

Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services is an initiative of CS Sharjah that offers free tours around the Emirate provided for children with special needs.

31

The fundraising campaign launched in Seville, Cádiz, Málaga and Las Palmas GC at Christmas and became so popular that in Las Palmas the bus took part in the Wise Men parade.

CS Operators Outstanding News from Your Operation

On Channel 1 A City Sightseeing double decker bus starred in the Russia’s main ‘New Year Show’ TV program, on Channel One. An excellent way to begin the year, don’t you think?

Brighton Promotion Real Glaswegians

New Venetian Boats

From 17th to 25th March, CS Brighton played a starring role in Brighton’s English Tourism Week celebrations at the Palace Pier.

Our friends from CS Italy have released the boats that will be put into service in the Venice lagoon in the coming summer season, designed in the University of Trieste to minimize wave motion.

In March, CS Glasgow took model school pupils on a bus tour as the best way to promote its service in preparation for 2018 spring and summer season.

32

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

Bus + Boat + Train

Branded Bicycle

Branded Car

Malaga is an exemplary operation within the CS international network for many reasons. Now they offer tours of the city by bus, boat and train.

Look at the new branded bicycle used by our colleagues from CS Seville to deliver the operation brochures throughout the sales points in the city. Isn’t it lovely?

When you are a City Sightseeing Brand Ambassador you use the global brand in all aspects of your operation (not to say your life!). See the branded car above, in Russia.

Carnival in Cádiz

The Year of Murillo

Amsterdam Lights

The City Sightseeing brand featured in one of the most important Carnivals in Spain as CS Cadiz sponsored one of the most popular choruses in the city’s festival.

2018 is The Year of Murillo in Seville due to the 400th Anniversary of the birth of the Baroque painter.

CS Sevilla joins the celebration with a special guided walking tour and free entry to the Fine Arts Museum of Seville.

In January, Amsterdam was transformed into a city of lights during the Amsterdam Light Festival.

The CS Amsterdam boat did daily tours with departures every hour.

33

CS Family Staff Stories

Bus Tour 4 Charity See how our colleagues from CS Prague enjoy their new initiative – Bus Tour 4 Charity in which the buses and hop-on hop-off service is a vehicle to fundraise for children in need.

Running Team

Support Brighdin

Our heroes!

After a great performance in the Seville Marathon, the City Sightseeing Running Team continues growing and gaining exposure in more and more races. Do you want to join us? Email us at runningteam@city-ss.com

Brighdin, a street manager in Belfast is helping in the fight of cancer by taking part in a white collar boxing match. You can support her by visiting her justgiving.com page.

As the spring is already here with warmer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, we want to congratulate our colleagues that have done an incredible job in the winter.

34

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

Sweet, Sweet Bus

Our Ambassadors

Tour with O’Driscoll

Look at the wonderful cake that Eugene Rapin, a CS St. Petersburg driver, had for his birthday. What a surprise!

Every CS family member is an ambassador of the global brand. See a CS Corfu waitress above in the Greek Tourism Expo at the end of 2017, where our colleagues promoted their service.

For some hours, Irish rugby legend Brian O’Driscoll became a CS Dublin tour guide. Do we have a new CS Family member? Actually it was all for an interview with BBC Sport channel.

Anastasia, St. Pete

Siri, Stockholm

Enrique, Seville

In February, our CS St. Petersburg colleague Oxana Goncharova adopted a 18-month girl, Anastasia. Welcome to the City Sightseeing family!

Siri is the second child of Oscar and Karolina Carheden from CS Stockholm.

Congratulations! We are happy to see the Scandinavian family growing.

Our colleague from CS Seville Enrique Osborne is father of a new baby boy. This is his fourth child. Nice to meet you, Enrique Jr.!

35

SuperPosts Best of Social Media

W

ith billions of people around the world using social media on a daily basis, a company’s presence on various platforms is a must. At City Sightseeing we have stressed the importance of maintaining various social media profiles for your operations.

We are proud to introduce the “Best of Social Media� where we showcase the great things operators throughout the network are doing on different social media platforms.

Lauren Mogannam Online Communications Manager

Super Post!

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.

36

TopDeck Magazine | #18 | March 2018

37

The Wall

Social stories

Twitter | Facebook | TripAdvisor | TrustPilot | Viator | GetYourGuide Deshraju Rao — Berlin. Frequency was very good.

Never waited for more than 8 minutes. Guides were available at every stop. Commentary was informative.

Thank you very much Ekaterina Nachkebiya – Tbilisi. It was an amazing trip. I got a lot of pleasure, beautiful staff, best guides, naikomfortnejsij transport, I stayed very happy from the tour, thank you very much. emmoeller – Dubai. I got a one day pass kind of last minute and it turned out to be one of the best tours I took! If you’re looking for malls, souks, or museums this bus hits them all. Buses run every 20 minutes so so you never have to wait long. The buses are air conditioned and they have bottled water for you. The audio tour gives you all the info you need as you drive by the sites of the city! They offer five differnent loops so you can see as much or as little of the city as you want.

Ogtay Gozalov – Athens. We are now with my daughter (she is on her manual wheelchair) in Athens.

Yesterday I bought two tickets for her and me (actually I have paid only for one, as the disabled person gets free tickets) and have changed two differents lines: one from Monastiraki up to Acropolis and the second one from Acropolis to Pireus. The drivers of all lines and buses were not just simply friendly, but highly professional and absolutely EXCELLENT. They’ve been providing very useful and accurate tips of advice, giving essential support and they have been driving so nice (which is not easy in the city like Athens, where streets are very narrow, busy and it always either uphill or downhill), avoiding any inaccurate turns or unsafe movements, that me and my daughter were really happy with all that. Our deepest thanks to all of them!

Gavin W – Melbourne. Very good commentary on bus, friendly and easy to use. Well worth for the price @_rubenoli_. Thanks to @CitySSWorldwide for this trip #WeShowYouTheWorld #BestThingsBerlin #CitySightseeing Sara J – Glasgow. Great way to navigate a new city – get history, commentary, and get on and off at sites as one wishes. Highly recommend. @estrellaazahara. Nuestros niñ@s han disfrutado de la II Ruta Turística desde las alturas! Así han conocido los lugares más importantes de nuestra bonita ciudad. Hemos tenido el placer de conocer a @ AntonioJSMazuec #ConocetuCiudad #CitySightseeing @aucorsa @cordoba_ciudad #turismo

F2021Wmar –Dublin. A perfect way to travel around Dublin and get a great tour as well. The best thing was you can get on and off. The multiple routes were a nice added touch. Just being on the bus allowed us to see and learn things we never would have known on our own. Worth every euro!”

Laurent — Palma. Super very convenient as well for visiting as for this move.

Madalyn K – New Orleans. Thought this was a great sightseeing option. It was nice to ride with different tour guides because they all had great information.

Would definitely recommend buying the 3 day ticket even if you just use it to move around town.

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

38

The travel of Peter Peter takes the time of the flight journey to plan his trip with the .

:

Where is the bus...?.

- Peter, you have 25 minutes till the bus comes.

- I would rather suggest you to go and see the Eiffel Tower meanwhile you are waiting.

offers Peter all the information he needs.

After 25 minutes...

Peter enjoys the tour.

To be continued... smart travel system

Managers

We make it easier for you

Customers

Drivers

Three needs, one solution New

- Tickets can now be purchased directly using the app.

- Now we can integrate all your already existing GPS in our Bus Operative System. +34 928 374 026 www.desic-sl.com busoperative@desic-sl.com