A British city tour bus operator plans to expand global operations as it announced more attractions on its Dubai circuits.
Big Bus, which is seeking around US$810 million in investments, expects to grow to two to four new cities a year, said Christopher Preston, the chief operating officer of Big Bus. He declined to name the new destinations.
“We have met that [target] for the last three years and we are looking to grow,” he said.
He was in Dubai to announce a new route taking in Dubai Marina, making it the company’s third route in the emirate, from tomorrow. It would include Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah attractions as well as Madinat Jumeirah.
“With the tram works finishing, we felt it was the right time to launch with a much freer flow of traffic [around Dubai Marina], and Blue Water Island under construction, now is the time,” he said.
Big Bus expects to handle 500,000 guests across Dubai and Abu Dhabi this year, and the year-on-year growth has been between 10 and 15 per cent. Big Bus entered Dubai in 2002 and Abu Dhabi seven years later. Its Dubai fleet consists of 25 vehicles.
“Dubai was our first overseas investment. It has been hugely successful, and we are invested heavily in Dubai,” Mr Preston said. “In a global business we have competition in every city we operate, and this plan for the new Dubai route started 12 months ago.”
In October, Emirates Group’s travel company dnata and its Spanish partner City Sightseeing Worldwide launched another hop-on, hop-off city tour.
City Sightseeing’s two routes combines 26 locations in Dubai. It started a Sharjah tour last year.
Big Bus would not expand to Sharjah, but the existing circuits will include a free Sharjah jaunt.
Its ticket prices at Dh240 for a 24-hour pass for the hop-on, hop-off ride are expected to remain steady next year. Big Bus currently operates in 16 cities across the world, handling four million passengers every year. It has a fleet of 300 buses globally and entered New York, Istanbul and Vienna early this year.
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At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Sukuk explained
Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
3%20Body%20Problem
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