Gray Line Worldwide
Founded1910
Headquarters1541 N. Marion St, P.O. Box #18267
Denver, Colorado
Service areaWorldwide
Service typeSightseeing Tours
Operator100+ licensees worldwide
Websitewww.grayline.com

Gray Line Worldwide is an international sightseeing company that consist of local sightseeing operator around the world. The company was founded in 1910 and operates worldwide through independent operators it calls "licensees" with a presence in most of the world's most popular sightseeing destinations. Gray Line does not provide sightseeing services directly, but rather provides its brand, promotional services and booking systems to licensees.[1] Gray Line is also the largest direct supplier of destination services to online travel sellers, wholesalers and travel agents.

History

A Seattle Gray Line bus at its terminal, circa 1951

In March 1910, a young restaurateur called Louis Bush refurbished an old Mack Truck chassis, painted it blue and gray and began offering sightseeing tours around the city of Washington, D.C.

By 1926, Gray Line had expanded to other booming cities including New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, as well as internationally to Toronto and Havana. With peacetime following World War II, Harry J. Dooley, a former Gray Line employee, acquired the company and helped re-establish Gray Line Chicago. Dooley soon became president of Gray Line and is today considered the father of the sightseeing industry.

With the advent of jet travel and increased gateways in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Dooley expanded Gray Line's market throughout the United States and established Gray Line companies in Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The sudden popularity growth in motorcoach sightseeing helped position Gray Line as a leader in the sightseeing industry.

The brand is currently managed from an office based in Denver, Colorado.

Gray Line has a presence in over 700 locations, spanning six continents, and is the largest sightseeing company in the world. In 2018 its carriers handled over 35 million passengers.

People boarding a Gray Line bus in Nashville, Tennessee, 2018.

Licensees

LocationOperator
AlaskaHolland America Group
AmsterdamBlue Boat Company
ArgentinaAV & MV SRL
AshevilleAsheville Trolley Company, LLC
AustriaVienna Sightseeing Tours
AthensAthens Open Tour
AustraliaDriver Group
BeijingDTI, Ltd.
BerlinBus Verkehr Berlin[2]
BostonBrush Hill Tours
BransonThompson Transportation Group, LLC
BrazilBrazil 4 You Operadora Receptiva
British ColumbiaWest Coast Sightseeing
CancunMayaland Tours
CharlestonM&S Holding Co.
ChicagoAries Charter
ChileChirak Tour
ColombiaRespresentaciones Irigoyen Vega Cia Ltd
ColoradoColorado Tour Line
Costa RicaFantasy Tours
CroatiaAdriatic 4 You
Czech RepublicBohemia Travel
Dominican RepublicTransporte Turistico F&S Tours
EcuadorCombratur
EgyptSouth Sinai Travel
EmiratesKurban Tours
FlorenceCAF Tours
GenevaKeytours S.A.
GuatemalaReuxtreme-Reustours
HalifaxAmbassatours
Hong KongGray Line Tours of Hong Kong Limited
HungaryCityrama
IcelandGray Line Iceland
IndonesiaP.T. Regina Alta Panorama Tours
IrelandThe Dualway Group
IsraelConsolidated Tour Operators Ltd.
LondonGolden Tours
Los AngelesGl Vegas, Inc.
Los CabosGray Line Los Cabos SA de CV
LouisianaNew Orleans Steamboat Company
MacauGray Line Tours Hong Kong Limited
MaltaSupreme Travel
MelbourneDriver Group Australia
MiamiMiami Incoming Services, LLC
MinneapolisSchmitty & Sons Transit, Inc.
MontrealCoach Canada
MoroccoUtess Voyages
MunichAutobus Oberbayern
Myrtle BeachLeisure Time Unlimited, Inc.
New OrleansNew Orleans Steamboat Company[3]
New YorkCoach USA
New ZealandInterCity[4]
Niagara, OntarioMiagara Majestic Tours
Northern CaliforniaAutocares Julia, SL
OmanKurban Tours
OregonRoad & Rail Travel, LLC
OrlandoGator Tours of Orlando, LLC
OttawaGray Line Ottawa
PanamaGray Line Panama
ParisParisCityVision
PeruViajes Pacífico[5]
PortugalCityrama
Prince Edward IslandAmbassatours
Puerto RicoCharter Coach Inc.
Puerto VallartaGray Line Los Cabos SA de CV
RomaniaMr. Tripp[6]
RomeCarrani Tours
San AntonioStar Shuttle & Charter
SavannahKelly Tours
ScotlandEdinburgh Coach Lines[7]
SeattleCity Sightseeing Seattle
ShanghaiDTI Ltd.
SorrentoTravel Etc.
SpainAutocares Julia, SL
TennesseeGray Line of Tennessee / RLCL Acquisition, LLC
Tasmania Experience Tasmania Tours
TorontoGray Line Toronto
TucsonGray Line Tours
TurkeyPlan Tours
VancouverWestcoast Sightseeing[8]
VenezuelaCandes Turismo
VenicePark Viaggi S.R.L.
Victoria, British ColumbiaPacific Coast Sightseeing
VietnamThreeland Travel[9]
Washington, DCMartz Group[10]
YorkGolden Tours,[11] operated by York Pullman
ZurichHans Meier Tourist AG

References

  1. ↑ "Terms and Conditions".
  2. ↑ "BVB.net - Bus Verkehr Berlin - Bus mieten & mehr". BVB.net (in German). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  3. ↑ "New Orleans' Only Steamboat | Steamboat NATCHEZ". www.steamboatnatchez.com. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  4. ↑ "InterCity Group - About Gray Line". InterCity New Zealand. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  5. ↑ Viajes Pacífico
  6. ↑ Tripp, Mr. "Mr. Tripp | Sightseeing tours". mrtripp.tours (in Romanian). Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  7. ↑ Gray Line Scotland Archived 2014-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Edinburgh Coach Lines
  8. ↑ Westcoast Sightseeing
  9. ↑ "Best Tours to Vietnam, Indochina | Threeland Travel". Best Tours to Vietnam, Indochina | Threeland Travel. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  10. ↑ Martz Group
  11. ↑ "Hop-on Hop-off York". Golden Tours. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
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