Manchester welcomed its first daily sightseeing tour bus service this month.
The hop-on hop-off bus fills a gap in the market as Manchester is currently one of few cities in the UK without a daily sightseeing bus tour, despite having a rapidly growing tourism economy, currently worth ?7.9billion.
The ?Sightseeing Manchester: the hop-on hop-off city tour? will give visitors a new, flexible way of discovering Greater Manchester?s top tourist attractions, with tickets valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase. The tour will run daily, except on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year?s Day, with multiple departures per day.
As part of a phased launch, the tour will commence with an initial route that starts in Albert Square and visits 15 tourism hotspots throughout Manchester, Salford and Trafford. Additional routes incorporating areas of East Manchester and the University corridor are currently being developed and will be introduced later in the year.
English commentary for the tour has also been provided by Lord of the Rings and Lost actor, Dominic Monaghan, who grew up in Stockport.
Philip Higgs, managing director at Sightseeing Manchester, said: ?As a born and bred Mancunian who has operated sightseeing tours in other cities across Europe, it always struck me as odd that Greater Manchester, with its many iconic tourist hotspots, has not previously had a daily, year-round bus tour.
?Having recently returned to the city after a number of years away ? and seeing how far the tourism industry has come in that time ? I am delighted to be able to start a new business to fill the gap in the market and I?m looking forward to packing our striped green buses with tourists.?
Visit sightseeingmanchester.com for more details.
