A company that encourages tourists to go topless on the Las Vegas Strip is expanding.
OK, so it’s a tour company that has open-top double-deck buses. Open Top Sightseeing, a division of Big Bus Tours, the world’s largest privately held double-deck tour bus company, will expand its local fleet from 16 to 22 buses and double its staff to 150 by the end of the year.
Chris Crompton, general manager of the company, emphasized that it’s a tourism enterprise, not a Strip mass transportation service, with live guides providing commentary on two routes along the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is one of 11 cities worldwide to have Big Bus or Open Top tours. Other cities where the company has a presence are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Miami, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington.
“It’s fiercely important to us to take people to where the sightseeing is best,” Crompton said. “We receive no commissions or kickbacks from companies to deliver our customers to them.”
The business model is simple. Buses drive intersecting looped routes with nine stops on each route. Passengers buy one- or two-day passes and get on or off the bus as often as they like.
The southern route starts at Circus Circus and stops at Bally’s, the Atomic Testing Museum, the Hard Rock, the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, the Excalibur, the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, a second stop at Bally’s and Wynn Encore.
The northern route starts at Circus Circus with stops at Gold and Silver Pawnshop, where “Pawn Stars” is filmed, Fremont Street East, the El Cortez, the Golden Nugget, the Premium Outlet Mall, the Stratosphere, a second stop at Circus Circus and the Fashion Show mall.
The company is looking to offer new stops at the recently opened Mob Museum, the Arts Factory and Rick’s Restoration and the Plaza Hotel with an extension to the Neon Boneyard, the Natural History Museum, the Children’s Museum and the Mormon Fort.
Buses begin running every 20-30 minutes at 10 a.m. everyday, with the last operations leaving at 6 p.m. A complete circuit on the route takes about 90 minutes, but that can change when traffic is heavy. A special two-hour trip from the Excalibur to the Golden Nugget operates nightly at 7 p.m.
Discounted online one-day passes cost $31.50 for adults, $16.20 for children 4-12 and $76.50 for families, while two-day tickets are $36, $18 and $85.50. Night trip tickets are $18 for adults, $9 for children and $45 for families.
Riders can purchase tickets online at www.bigbustours.com or at the Fremont Street Experience, Bally’s, Circus Circus, the Hawaiian Market Place on the Strip or from drivers at any stop.
The company is investing about $300,000 in the Las Vegas market and will hire drivers, tour guides, mechanics and engineers. It is also retrofitting its buses with air conditioning in advance of the summer months.
Each bus has live commentary in English — one of the bus guides was a contestant with a talking parrot act on “America’s Got Talent” — but there also are audio guides offered in eight languages.
Crompton said drivers and guides have experimented with the timing of their tours to be driving by key Strip attractions when they’re active, like the fountains at Bellagio, the volcano at the Mirage and the Sirens of T.I. show.
The company’s largest tour bus operation is in London, where about 8,000 passengers a day ride through the city.
“We’re expecting really big things in Las Vegas and our goals are huge because we really believe in Las Vegas,” Crompton said.