Press releases

The Original Tour – part of European transport services organisation Arriva – has won the inaugural Chairman's special achievement award at tourism trade association, UKinbound's annual award ceremony. The award was made in recognition of The Original Tour introducing the first ever wheelchair accessible sightseeing vehicles to the capital.

The Original Tour has been providing open top bus tours to London's visitors for 55 years and in 2005 enhanced its reputation as a market leader by investing over £1.6 million in a new fleet of specially designed open topped vehicles.

The new fleet features environmentally friendly engine systems which exceed all current and planned emission standards. And for the first time ever, access is available to all as the fleet features the first open topped vehicles to offer wheelchair accessibility.

Colin Atkins, commercial director at The Original Tour, said:

We are proud to have been the first company in the world to offer the first open top sightseeing bus company in the world, the first to engage with the inbound travel trade and now we are thrilled and delighted to be the first winner of the Ukinbound Chairman's Special Achievement Award.

Angela Shanley, chairman of UKinbound, commented:

I am delighted that the inaugural award goes to a company that has been providing services for visitors to London since the Festival of Britain in 1951. Today, while much imitated around the world, it has maintained its commitment to providing visitors to London with the best possible tourist experience.

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Notes to editors

• Arriva is one of the largest private sector providers of passenger transport in mainland Europe. Employing more than 30,000 people and providing more than one billion passenger journeys every year.
• Arriva provides transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and water buses in eight European countries - Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
• Arriva is the largest private bus operator in Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands and is London's largest operator. Arriva was the first private company to be awarded rail contracts in Denmark.
• In the last five years, the turnover of Arriva's mainland European operations has increase by more than 250 per cent to £514.8 million (Euro €746 million).
• Arriva was the first UK transport company to become a signatory of the European Road Safety Charter – http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/roadsafety/charter.htm.