By Stuart Forster
Liverpool City Sights, which operates open-top bus tours on Merseyside, and BusyBus, currently offering sightseeing tours in northwest England and north Wales.
The companies have announced a merger that will see the continued existence of both brands.
Plans are afoot to introduce day trips from Liverpool to Chester.
Chester famous Victorian clock.
The tours will include Port Sunlight. The model industrial village founded in 1888, highlights of Cheshire’s historic county town and then conclude with drinks on the Daffodil at Canning Dock.
“We feel that BusyBus has got the following, can scale up and do tours on a daily basis. Teaming together means more resources and a bigger pool of talent. The merger is to pool resources so we can then compete and scale this nationally,” says Philip Olivier. Founder and CEO of Liverpool City Sights.
Tour Bus Merger Can Scale Up Services
Philip quips that the reason he took over a tour company 12 years ago was: “to try and save myself from living out of a suitcase around theatres.”
Interior of the Museum of Liverpool.
He had previously played the character of Timothy ‘Tinhead’ O’Leary in the TV soap Brookside.
In 2022, TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice awards listed Liverpool City Sights among the top 10 global attractions in the world.
Cavern Club Liverpool. Merger of Busy Bus and Liverpool City Sights.
The company’s guides were trained to tell stories and entertain. “The guides are playing instruments to you, they tell jokes. They don’t just educate you,” explains Philip.
Busy Bus Small But Intimate Transport
He continues: “BusyBus, which was founded by my good friend Peter Rosenfeld. He has exactly the same ethos and does day trips which go out to north Wales, Chester, the Lakes and the likes.
BusyBus has done very well with cruise ships and constantly packs out vehicles. Its 16-seat vehicles offer intimacy during sightseeing tours and will be used to operate excursions between both Liverpool and Chester.
Busy Bus customers using the Tree Top Adventure centre at Betws y Coed, North Wales. Peter Rosenfeld standing far right.
Meanwhile, on Merseyside, Liverpool City Sights offers a hop-on, hop-off sightseeing tour. These enables visitors to orientate and a premium, 90-minute City and Beatles Tour.
“We use the story of The Beatles to get us out to the more rural parts of Liverpool. The whole reason I sculpted that tour 10 years ago was basically to get rid of old preconceptions of Liverpool and to show that it has got some majestic areas as well…people couldn’t believe how nice Liverpool was,” explains Philip.
Booming For Tour Bus Merger
Tourism in the region is booming. Philip identifies Liverpool’s cruise terminal and longer staycations of four to five days as key factors: “The whole way that Liverpool is developed is based on tourism. I feel we are like an attraction city, and I think it’s a perfect place to do this daily tour to Chester because Chester is so close to Liverpool. It’s a good size to see the highlights and then get back to your hub.”
Boot Inn Chester. Merger of Busy Bus and Liverpool City Sights.
“People used to go to destinations and basically tick off lists, whereas now people want something more meaningful…They’re looking to value more of those experiences,” he adds, explaining that often involves exploring the surrounding region.
Museum of Liverpool.
Philip has also acquired the MV Royal Daffodil, one of the old Mersey ferries. He had it converted into a floating hospitality venue moored at Liverpool’s Canning Dock. “We’ve been there since December. It has a bar upstairs, a fine-dining restaurant on the main deck and a multi-function event space downstairs for weddings and corporate events,” he outlines.
Liverpool City Sights Synergy
Peter Rosenfeld founded BusyBus 23 years ago and is approaching retirement. “What was important to me was the legacy of BusyBus. My dream was to see BusyBus in every tourism city of the UK,” he says.
Liver building in Liverpool.
“It was very clear that this young man had the same vision as I had 20 years ago: It was just obvious and the writing was on the wall that this was the future. I had other opportunities with BusyBus but none of them came close to the opportunity that Liverpool City Sights and Philip Olivier has given me. The decision was based purely on synergy of people.”
The tours from Liverpool to Chester are available from 1 August 2025.
More information
Liverpool City Sights operates a Hop-On, Hop-Off City Tour and a City and Beatles Tour.
The Visit Liverpool website offers an overview of things to do and see while staying on Merseyside
The Daffodil is adjacent to Strand Street at Canning Dock in Liverpool.
BusyBus’s portfolio of tours includes sightseeing day trips, shore excursions and mini-breaks.
Head to the Visit Cheshire website for information about the attractions of Chester and elsewhere in the county.
The village of Port Sunlight is located between Liverpool and Chester. It has more than 900 Grade II listed buildings and has been used as a filming location for television serises Peaky Blinders.
Please visit:
Our Sponsor