Tourism & Hospitality | Saturday 17 January, 2015 11:02 am |

- Popular city tour operator teams up with Dubai counterpart to expand services


Popular Sharjah-based city tour operator City Sightseeing Sharjah is joining forces with its Dubai counterpart to offer an exciting new option.

The new agreement allows travellers who hold a 48-hour validity ticket for either City Sightseeing Sharjah or City Sightseeing Dubai access to any of the City Sightseeing tours in Sharjah or Dubai for the duration of the ticket. And, to further help passengers get the best possible value from the deal, 48-hour ticket holders can also make use of a free shuttle service, running between the Central Souq in Sharjah and Deira City Centre in Dubai.

Shurooq Chief Operating Officer Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer commented: "We are extremely proud of the immense growth that City Sightseeing Sharjah has seen over the past two years. The venture has in a very short period of time become an integral part of Sharjah’s tourism offering, giving visitors and residents alike the chance to explore the city’s diverse cultural, commercial, and natural attractions. By providing an easy and convenient link between the City Sightseeing tours in two cities we can now offer Dubai visitors the chance to also experience all that Sharjah has to offer. We remain committed to giving our customers the best possible experience and look forward to welcoming many more visitors, especially as Sharjah is celebrating its tenure as Capital of Arab Tourism for 2015.”

City Sightseeing Dubai’s Managing Director, Jesus Ruiz Perez commented: "Our partnership with City Sightseeing Sharjah will allow our passengers to discover the beautiful Emirate, Sharjah. City Sightseeing started operations in Dubai in October 2014 and we have already established strong relationships with local partners aiming to add more value to our tours and allowing the best experience to our guests visiting Dubai."

Since its launch in 2012 as a joint venture by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and leading sightseeing bus service operator City Sightseeing Worldwide, City Sightseeing Sharjah has continued to push the envelope, expanding both its number of routes and stops within Sharjah as well as the services provided on its state-of-the-art busses.

In addition to recently adding four more stops, namely Sahara Center, Safeer Mall, the Book Roundabout, and Sharjah City Centre, to its Cultural and Leisure tours – bringing the total number of stops to twenty – City Sightseeing Sharjah has also added two more busses to its fleet, significantly adding to the frequency of its tours.

Tours on the operator’s specially outfitted double-decker buses) are available all week long and around the year, at affordable rates. City Sightseeing Sharjah 24-hour tickets are 85 AED for adults and 45 AED for children, and the 48-hour validity tickets are available at 295 AED for adults and 130 AED for children. Ticket holders can use the buses on any of City Sightseeing Sharjah’s three routes: The Red Route (the leisure tour, 13 stops - 1 hour 30 minutes total), the Green Route (the cultural tour, 8 stops - 60 minutes), and the Blue Route (the night tour, 12 stops - 1 hour 30 minutes).

In keeping with the multicultural nature of Sharjah’s tourists, the City Sightseeing Sharjah busses offer language commentary in seven international languages – Arabic, English, Russian, German, Mandarin, Spanish, and Urdu – as well as a special fun kid’s commentary catering specifically to the young lot. Passengers on board can also make use of free Wi-Fi connectivity on any of the tour operator’s fleet of busses, which have been specially redesigned to accommodate the region’s climate, featuring convertible rooftops that can be removed during the pleasant winter months to create an open-top tour experience, or kept in place to guarantee a fully air-conditioned interior for comfortable tours in the blazing summer heat.

Already ranked #1 out of 28 activities to do in Sharjah by globally respected travel site Tripadvisor and with an overall 4.5 star review, which especially notes its friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable staff, the new additions to its comprehensive services will undoubtedly further bolster City Sightseeing’s growing reputation for service excellence.

City Sightseeing Sharjah has reach great milestones since its launch in 2012, including organising evening tours and making tickets available in over 60 locations in Sharjah, Dubai, and Ajman, as well as online on www.city-sightseeing.com.

The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) launched City Sightseeing Sharjah in 2012, in collaboration with City Sightseeing Worldwide, the world leading sightseeing tours provider. The tours were operational by January 2013. City Sightseeing Sharjah is the first tour project under the trademark City Sightseeing, which operates on 5 continents around the world, and in over 100 of the most important cities in the world.