New Visitor City Tour

New Rotorua CitySights Bus Hits the Road for first time.

GreatSights New Zealand launches new bus service linking Rotorua’s top tourist spots.

Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters officially launched GreatSights’ Rotorua CitySights Bus at Te Puia today. Rotorua’s latest tourism experience is a hop-on, hop-off bus service which links a range of the city’s top attractions on a 95minute round trip.

Rotorua CitySights experience is owned by InterCity Group which currently carries more than 125,000 passengers to and from the city each year. It is estimated that the new CitySights service will boost these passenger numbers by at least 10 per cent.

Mayor Winters said, “Rotorua boasts a fantastic variety of tourist attractions and the idea of linking them with a single, easy-to-use bus service is a great one. I’m sure it’s going to be a huge hit with visitors and will have flow-on benefits for other local tourism operators.

“It will make it easier for visitors to enjoy what we have to offer, whether it’s spa rejuvenation or adventure/heritage activities or Maori culture. I’d like to congratulate InterCity on this initiative – it’s great to see a Kiwi-owned and operated company showing confidence in Rotorua and investing in the city in this way.” 

More than 80 dignitaries attended the launch ceremony of the bus service, affectionately known as HOHO (Hop-On, Hop-Off). The bus stops at 13 locations throughout Rotorua, including Agrodome, Skyline, Rainbow Springs, Zorb, Whakarewarewa Village, Te Puia Polynesian Spa and the Rotorua Museum. Passengers can either take the 95minute round trip or hop on and off at their choice of stops.

Tickets are valid for 48hours, enabling customers to board and exit the bus as many times as they like over a 48 hour period.

Sam Peate, General Manager Coaching at InterCity Group (NZ) Ltd, said the launch of Rotorua CitySights reinforces Rotorua’s position as a top tourism destination in New Zealand

“Rotorua has a lot going on with a plethora of exciting and entertaining attractions on offer for both the domestic and international visitor markets. We have already had significant interest from our trade partners overseas in this new service.” said Mr Peate.

Chris Destrieux, General Manager of Rotorua Destination Tourism Marketing said it was an exciting time for the city as for the visitors begin arriving in the city for Rugby World Cup 2011.

“There is so much do to in our wonderful city and now, thanks to Rotorua CitySights Bus we have a convenient, efficient and world class addition to our superb civic amenities and tourism infrastructure.

This is a moment much like when you finally fit that much needed piece in a puzzle.  We now have a seven-days-a-week service that connects many of our city's top attractions, helping visitors make the absolute most of our city. It also represents a significant change in access to international visitors for Rotorua courtesy of a New Zealand brand with key global trade networks.”

Mr Destrieux urged visitors and Rotorua residents alike to take advantage of this great new service to revisit their taonga and their heritage which was constantly being improved and refreshed, such as the magnificent Museum which opened its new wing last Friday.

As part of the service, the driver will deliver an informative and entertaining commentary bringing to life the culture, history and lifestyle of Rotorua. Passengers who speak Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish will also have the option of access to disposable earphones (free of charge) so they can listen to recorded commentary on the bus.

From tomorrow, the service will depart every two hours from 8.30am at the Rotorua i-SITE Visitor Centre with the last service departing at 2.30pm. Ticket prices are $30 for adults and children are free. Passes can be purchased at the i-SITE, outlets across the city, booked online at www.citysights.co.nz, directly from the driver or via wholesale travel agents worldwide.  

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