Press release -
OPEN TOP TOUR SET TO SHOWCASE THE BORDERS
This Saturday [27 May 2017], a new open top tour shall arrive in the Scottish Borders, City Sightseeing Scottish Borders.
Part of City Sightseeing Worldwide, and operated by Borders Buses, the hop-on and hop-off tour will allow visitors the opportunity to explore the many historical attractions and stunning views, which are making the Scottish Borders an increasingly popular tourist destination.
Featuring Abbotsford House, Melrose and Dryburgh Abbey, Trimontium Museum, William Wallace Statue and Scotts View, the tour also captures the beautiful rolling countryside while promoting a host of bustling cafes, bars and boutique shops.
The first tour leaves Galashiels Transport Interchange (stance 2) at 10am on Saturday 27 May.
From this date and until Sunday 24 September, the tours will operate every Saturday and Sunday, at two hourly intervals, between 10am and 4pm and 10:20am and 4:20pm respectively. The tour lasts approximately one hour and 30 minutes.
Tickets, which are available from the driver or online, can be used on a hop-on hop-off basis. The tickets include adult £8, £6 concessions/children and £23 for a family.
Sharon Morrison, commercial manager at West Coast Motors, parent company of Borders Buses, said: “We are thrilled to be launching our City Sightseeing Scottish Borders open top bus tour. The Scottish Borders is a beautiful part of the country and its history, which will be clearly visible from our open top bus, makes it such an exciting place for both UK and overseas visitors.
“Travelling on an open top tour bus is not just a wonderful way to travel it also brings the Scottish Borders fantastic story to life.
“We have worked closely with the main attractions and local businesses to ensure we deliver a truly memorable tour, which captures all that is wonderful in the area.
“With frequent bus and rail connections, Galashiels Transport Interchange provides the perfect starting place for both local people and visitors alike.”
Kate Pearson, Scottish Borders Council’s economic development officer for tourism, said: “We are delighted Borders Buses is offering this new hop-on hop-off open top bus service which will take visitors across the Borders in style to some of our most iconic tourist attractions.
“We are seeing increasing numbers of tourists visiting the Borders, and this offering should encourage even more to come and enjoy our scenic area.
“It will also link into the extensive Borders Buses network and Borders Railway with pick-ups at Galashiels Transport Interchange and Tweedbank Station, ensuring as many people as possible get access to this exciting new service.”
Manuela Calchini, Regional Partnerships Director for the South of Scotland, said:“The introduction of Border Buses hop-on hop-off bus tour offers the ideal opportunity for passengers to experience the beautiful landscapes, as well as encourage visitors to enjoy some of the best tourist attractions and local businesses along the route.
“The new service demonstrates a real commitment to further enhancing the tourism offering in the Scottish Borders and will be a welcome addition to those visitors travelling to the region this summer.”
Rosamund de la Hey, owner at The Mainstreet Trading Company said: “There will be a very warm welcome at The Mainstreet Trading Company for visitors enjoying the sights of the beautiful Borders countryside on a City Sightseeing Scottish Borders open top tour.”
Will Haegeland, owner of Grapevine Coffee House, Gin, Prosecco Bar and Restaurant said “This is wonderful news for the Scottish Borders. It provides a great opportunity for us to showcase the best of the Borders to visitors. This is a refreshing initiative by Border Buses, and puts the Scottish Borders on the map as a major visitor destination.”
Information about City Sightseeing Scottish Borders, key attractions local walks and places to eat can be found online www.citysightseeingscottishborders.co.uk.
Pictured left to right: David Thomson, City Sightseeing Scottish Borders, Rosamund de la Hey,The Mainstreet Trading Company, Will Haegeland, Grapevine Coffee House, Bar and Restaurant, Nicola Irvine, Borders Buses and Duncan Thomas, Borders Railway ambassador
For further information please contact:
Sharon Morrison, e. s.morrison@westcoastmotors.co.uk, m. 07495 452 366
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- borders railway
- scottish borders
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh) 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
