BANGKOK, July 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Elephant GoGo Co., Ltd., the leading Hop-On Hop-Off tour bus operator in Thailand, announced its partnership with City Sightseeing, the world’s number one sightseeing tour bus operator. The partnership aims to promote the Hop-On Hop-Off experience as new tourism in Thailand, expand to other Thai tourist cities and reach 3 million users in the next three years.
Krit Vitayasamrit, Managing Director of Elephant Go Go, said Elephant Bus Tours pioneered sightseeing buses in Thailand five years ago with an inaugural route in Bangkok. The first and only tour bus operator in Thailand offers the ‘Hop-On Hop-Off’ experience for Thai and foreigners so they can experience Bangkok like they never have before on double-deckers with both open-air and air-conditioned seatings. The route covers popular destinations from cultural landmarks, famous shopping districts and famous dining spots. Along the way, the narration of each tourist destination is provided in Thai, Chinese, Korean, English, German, French or Spain. The GPS technology also ensures timely narration.
Krit said the Hop-On Hop-Off tourism is trending among tourists in major cities across the world as they wish to maximise the use of their limited time. They can hop on a bus to familiarise themselves with tourist attractions before deciding whether to hop off to visit these places themselves. City Sightseeing from Spain is the pioneer in this regard and has expanded to six continents across 150 tourist cities of the world. This form of tourism is popular among local and foreign tourists alike as they wish for a unique experience of sightseeing from double-deckers at affordable prices. Elephant Bus Tours tickets come in three types and are valid for one day or 24 hours, two days or 48 hours and three days or 72 hours with unlimited rides within the time limit.
To strengthen Elephant Bus Tours’ position as a top Thailand-based tour bus operator, City Sightseeing has partnered up with Elephant Bus Tours to expand its service in Thailand and elevate service standards to the calibre that City Sightseeing has set across the world. Following the investment, a rebranding and new bus wraps featuring Thai motifs and images of Thai tourist attractions will be launched. The buses with new wraps commence service today.
Enrique Ybarra, Founder & CEO of City Sightseeing Worldwide, has assigned Gonzalo Ruiz García, Head of International Business Development at City Sightseeing, to represent him in Thailand. He said Thailand has great potential in terms of tourism especially Bangkok which is the fastest-growing tourist destination in the world. Bangkok is City Sightseeing’s first step into expansion in Asia. Through their partnership, they aim to popularise sightseeing buses in Thailand like they’ve accomplished the same phenomenon across the world. Elephant Bus Tours and City Sightseeing will expand their service while complementing each other’s strengths. City Sightseeing will elevate service standards to another level and provide access to networks of OTA (Online Travel Agency), leading tour agents of the world, airlines and cruises. This would lead to more partnerships in the future in order to make the tour bus experience even more interesting.
Regarding the business plan for 2023, Krit said two new routes will be introduced, starting with Pattaya City in August and follow by another major city. He believes that, following the partnership with City Sightseeing, the service will become more well-known among tourists around the world. Therefore, the goal for 2024 is to reach an average of 100,000 users per month or over one million users a year while, currently, the number of users stands at 120,000 per year. He plans to expand the tour buses to cover all tourist cities in Thailand within five years and help boost the economy by bringing income to communities along the routes.
To celebrate this partnership, a special promotion runs from June 16 to September 15, 2023. Foreign tourists can buy tickets at the City Sightseeing counter near Bangkok Bank on the ground floor of Siam Paragon and receive a 100 baht discount. Thais can purchase tickets for 300 baht per person from the normal price of 500 baht per person during the same period.
