Big four in trade group
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• The four biggest sightseeing tour operators in London have set up their own trading association to improve their image.
"There are a lot of cowboy operators trying to get in on this sector of the business," says Andrew Basson, operations manager of tour operator London Coaches, and secretary of the new group.
The Association of London Panoramic Sightseeing Operators (ALPASSO) comprises London Coaches, London Sightseeing Tours, London Cityrama and London Pride Sightseeing. The big four, who compete head-to-head in the capital and carry about a million passengers a year, are sick, says Basson, of being treated like "pariahs".
ALPASSO's aim is in coordinate members' dealings with the Department of Transport, the London Tourist Board, local authorities and traffic commissioners, and to lay down a code of conduct.
"The fact is that this large and lucrative section of the industry is treated like secondclass citizens,'" says Basson. "There is a terrible lack of facilities — stopping places, shelters, parking spaces and so on which is holding us back."
Another prime reason for the birth of ALPASSO is to give the business some kind of structure as deregulation of the PSV industry in the capital be comes a real possibility. "At the moment," says Basson, "Section 39 of the 1985 Transport Act sets out a licencing system called London Local Services, Excursion and Tours. But this is only applicable to the old GLC area. If deregulation comes, everybody who has a bus will be able to sit on a street corner and call himself a sightseeing tour operator."
In any case, the present situation is bad enough to warrant ALPASSO, he says. "It's common to see drivers doing their own commentaries and doing 90 minutes tours in under an hour. Our aim is to give tourists a proper service."
London Coaches and the three other member companies are still members of the Bus & Coach Council, but an independent association suggests the BCC cannot always represent them effectively.
Basson says ALPASSO is willing to accept new members but warns: "Looking at the market, 1 can't see anyone else who could live up to our code of conduct."