A tour company has secured £10,000 to launch an online marketplace offering a range of Glasgow experience packages, which can be purchased online and across the city, making it easier for visitors to enjoy the best of Glasgow.
GlasGo Bus partner, City Sightseeing Glasgow, the city’s official open top tour bus, serves Glasgow’s key attractions including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, The Riverside Museum, Clydeside Distillery and Glasgow Green. The new online marketplace provides a one stop shop for tourists to purchase We Show You Glasgow packages.
The company secured funding from Experience Glasgow’s Collaboration Fund, a scheme designed to encourage Glasgow businesses to work together and to develop and deliver an enhanced visitor experience.
The £10,000 has been invested in sales terminals for resellers – hotels, attractions, visitor information centres and cafes – to sell City Sightseeing Glasgow and “We Show Glasgow” packages. The packages can also be sold from City Sightseeing Glasgow’s website.
To develop the packages, City Sightseeing has integrated with third party booking systems and is working in partnership with a number of businesses. This includes packages with Glasgow Walking Tours, Glasgow City Music Tours, Mharsanta, Van Winkle, the Glasgow Subway, Clydeside Distillery and Sweeney Cruises – for those wishing to go a bit further up the coast.
Sales terminals have been installed in Grand Central Hotel, Crown Plaza Hotel, Ibis Glasgow, Novotel Glasgow, and The National Piping Centre with more – Mharsanta, VisitScotland, Clydeside Distillery and The Blue Lagoon – being introduced throughout the summer.
Richy Graham, operations manager at City Sightseeing Glasgow, said: “We are pleased to have secured funding from Experience Glasgow. Our online marketplace provides visitors with a platform to either purchase their We Show You Glasgow packages before they arrive in city, through the City Sightseeing Glasgow website, or once they arrive through one of the many resellers across the city.
“We’re confident this simple approach to experiencing Glasgow will make tourists’ time in the city enjoyable and hassle free.”
Anh Nguyen at Experience Glasgow, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support City Sightseeing Glasgow’s new initiative. The first of its kind will enable visitors access tickets to the city’s best attractions and experiences from a number of different locations across Glasgow. We are looking forward to seeing more businesses involved, giving visitors a wide range of choice depending on their interests.”
Bridgeen Mullen, visitor centre manager at Clydeside Distillery and chair of Glasgow’s Leading Attractions, added: “We’re thrilled to have partnered with City Sightseeing Glasgow on this exciting initiative. This new platform provides the perfect way to buy joint packages from a wide range of locations and venues and should hopefully encourages tourists to spend more and stay longer in the city.
“As chair of Glasgow’s Leading Attractions, I would encourage other businesses in the Glasgow tourist and hospitality sector to jump on board.”
