The city of London is one of the most visited destinations in the world and the competition among different tour operators to attract the maximum number of clients is fierce. This is the case of tourist buses, with a potential demand of 32 million travelers. In fact, the capital of the United Kingdom was the first to offer this service in all of Europe. The long tradition has led to a market where four operators vie for leadership.
One of them is Catalan, Grupo Julià, which is present in this segment through City Tour WorldWide. In London, it has operated since 2015, with about 160,000 users per year, but its tourist buses also circulate through Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastián, Rome, Marrakech, and Tangier. To strengthen its position in the British city, it has allied with the Sevillian City Sightseeing, with a strong presence in the United Kingdom and one of the main international operators, and the British Stagecoach Group, the largest bus operator in the country.
"We want to offer the best tourist bus routes in London. This will be our objective. We are three reference operators in our respective fields of activity and we share the vocation of service, quality, and safety as fundamental pillars of our operation," states the CEO of Grupo Julià, José Francisco Adell.
In the United Kingdom, Grupo Julià only offers tourist buses in London, while City Sightseeing is present in many more cities, such as Edinburgh, Stratford-upon-Avon —where Shakespeare was born—, Bath, York, Oxford, Glasgow, and Brighton.
It will start operating with a fleet of 11 vehicles
From May 20, the double-decker buses resulting from this union between Grupo Julià, City Sightseeing, and Stagecoach Group will begin to circulate. They will start operating with a fleet of 11 buses, with the forecast of reaching up to 40 at most within a period of three to four years.The Catalan and Sevillian companies will be responsible for the commercialization and distribution of the service, while the British company will be responsible for operations and logistics.The two-hour route will include London's most iconic landmarks, such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, and Buckingham Palace. The buses will feature an audio guide in 11 languages, Wi-Fi, a ramp, and space for people with reduced mobility, in addition to new necessities incorporated due to the pandemic, such as hand sanitizer dispensers.
Beyond tourist buses
Tourist buses are one of Grupo Julià's business lines, but not the only one. Firstly, it has several bus companies: Autocares Julià, which offers regular lines, school transport, and discretionary service in Spain; Direct Bus, which connects Barcelona and Andorra, and Nadal, which operates in Andorra. Additionally, the group includes the travel agency Julià Travel and the specialized tour operator Julià Tours.
With over 85 years of activity, this business group is present in Spain, Andorra, the United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Morocco, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. It has a portfolio of over 12 million international clients. Recently, it has requested assistance from SEPI to cope with the impact of the pandemic on its operations.