City Sightseeing Al Madinah

It was in 1998 that the idea of the City Sightseeing brand was first conceived . After extensive market research in Seville, it was established that tourists and visitors would welcome a recognised brand in other destinations – a brand they could trust and be sure of the same quality and standards in each location. It was from this point that the synonymous red and yellow branding on double-deck open top buses was created and started to appear around the globe. The City Sightseeing franchise concept was launched at the 1999 World Travel Market in London, England.

The franchised brand started to expand around the world, initially in the UK with Glasgow and then Canberra in Australia. By 2000 the operations expanded with the introduction of UK tours in Bath, London, Edinburgh and York plus further expansion in Spain and Australia and new locations such as Istanbul, Turkey and Copenhagen, Denmark, closely followed by new tours in Italy. In 2000 a sophisticated on-line booking system was launched.

By 2002 City Sightseeing had acquired its biggest rival, Guide Friday and overnight took the brand to nearly 70 tours with 250 buses worldwide. During 2003 and 2004 City Sightseeing continued to expand and break new ground with the introduction of purpose built low-floor open top double deck buses to tours both in Spain and the UK.