Veltra has signed an MOU with Big Bus Tours, one of the world’s leading Hop-on Hop-off sightseeing bus operators, with a view to developing the business in the Japanese market. The companies will next assess market potential in major cities across Japan and select candidate cities for rollout. The facts in this article cover the start of discussions on the partnership and negotiations toward a future agreement.
Veltra, a booking site for local experience-based activities, announced that it has signed an MOU with Big Bus Tours Limited, one of the world’s largest Hop-on Hop-off sightseeing bus operators, with a view to forming a business partnership in the Japanese market. This marks the first step in efforts to strengthen its inbound tourism business.
The partnership is driven by the growing number of international visitors to Japan, the resulting difficulty of traveling between cities, and rising demand for multi-destination travel. Big Bus Tours has built up extensive operating expertise over many years in cities including London, New York and Paris. Veltra aims to bring the overseas brand’s expertise to Japan by leveraging its domestic network and digital transformation platform.
As a key initiative, the companies will begin assessing the market potential for Hop-on Hop-off services in major Japanese cities and selecting candidate cities for rollout. They will consider working with regional bus operators and select potential partners based on criteria including safety, service quality and cooperation with local communities. By combining world-class operating expertise with a domestic digital transformation platform, the companies aim to invigorate the market and provide new services.
The companies will next discuss the target cities and business structure, with the aim of signing a definitive agreement and commercializing the business. Big Bus Tours brings global brand strength and operating expertise, while Veltra’s respective strengths include its portfolio of local tours and its domestic and overseas networks.