Industry collaboration example – New tour promiting Glasgow at night

A Glasgow bus tour will soon extend its service into the evening showcasing the city at night.

In recognition of the growing night time economy, City Sightseeing Glasgow will be adding a number of evening journeys to its tour from 01 July to 01 September.

The tour, which serves Glasgow’s leading attractions including the Glasgow Science Centre, Riverside Museum, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow Cathedral, Tennent’s Wellpark Brewery, The People’s Palace and the Clydeside Distillery, takes up to one hour 30 minutes.

It currently operates seven days a week with a 10-minute frequency between 0930 and 1700 and up to 20 minutes to 1820. The additional five journeys will operate a 20-minute frequency and depart George Square from 1840. The last bus will depart at 2030.

The tour bus, which has maintained its five-star Visit Scotland accreditation for the past four years, has also updated its route map. The map, a popular feature of the City Sightseeing Glasgow leaflet contains information on key attractions and hotels and now includes a host of the city’s top restaurants, bars and cafes.

To make it easier for customers City Sightseeing Glasgow has widened its ticket distribution, with visitors to the city now able to purchase tour tickets from Mharsanta restaurant in the Merchant City. The opportunity to buy tickets at other cafes, bars and restaurants across the city will be introduced later in the year. A joint ticket is also available with Glasgow Subway.

Richy Graham, operations manager at City Sightseeing Glasgow, said: “This summer looks to be a busy one for the city and our tour plays a key role in providing visitors with a simple and easy way to explore and enjoy Glasgow.

“We recognise there’s a boost in the night time economy and hope by extending our tour times and working in partnership with other businesses and transport providers, it offers and encourages visitors, some maybe only here for one night, to simply hop on the bus and make full use of the fantastic array of eateries and special events scattered around the city.”

Derek Mallon, managing director at Mharsanta, said: “Mharsanta would like to congratulate City Sightseeing Glasgow on the launch of their new evening service and welcome this fantastic new addition to the Glasgow evening economy.  We are delighted to be working in partnership with City Sightseeing Glasgow this summer.”

Bridgeen Mullen, visitor centre manager at Clydeside Distillery said: “It’s great news City Sightseeing Glasgow will be extending its service this summer to capture the growing night time economy. At the Clydeside Distillery we are definitely seeing a growing demand for evening whisky tours so its excellent to know our customers are able to travel to and from the distillery on the open top.”

David Christie, Subway Operations Manager at SPT said: “SPT is proud to support City Sightseeing Glasgow’s extended summer opening hours. City Sightseeing and Glasgow Subway are working together over the summer and beyond to offer visitors the chance to explore Glasgow with unlimited travel on the Subway and open top tour. We hope this ticket will offer the best value for visitors hoping to uncover Glasgow’s gems.”

Sean Lafferty, communications coordinator at Glasgow Science Centre, said: “Glasgow Science Centre and Glasgow Tower are icons in the city’s skyline. We think it looks great no matter the time of day, but photography enthusiasts will love catching a glimpse of our building at sunset.”

Tony Cottam, tour guide, Tennent’s Wellpark Brewery, said: “The City Sightseeing tours are a fantastic way to see first-hand what makes Glasgow – and Glaswegians – so special… and a great way to head to Wellpark Brewery for the freshest Tennent’s in town!’

Irene Birkett, owner at Glickman’s sweet shop, added: “It’s good to see City Sightseeing Glasgow listening and acting on customer demand.”