BATHURST'S new hop-on, hop-off tourist bus has already convinced visitors to extend their time in the city - and it hasn't racked up a month on the road yet.
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"With the people that we've had already, we've had two or three people say, 'oh, we're actually going to stay another day; we didn't realise there was so much to do here'," Ian Redpath of Bathurst Tours said this week.
The hop-on, hop-off Bathurst Explorer Bus, a new initiative from Bathurst Tours, is running seven days a week on a route that includes the CBD, the railway precinct and Mount Panorama.
"When I have talked to people outside of the tourism industry they've said, 'oh really, do you think an Explorer Bus is needed? We don't have that many tourists here'," Mr Redpath said.
"But then when you speak to people within the tourism industry, like the visitors' centre, for instance, they're ecstatic about it, because they say this will really put Bathurst on the map."
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Mr Redpath said he did his homework before launching the bus in mid-May.
"I think we're ready for it," he said.
"We expect slower periods, there's no question about that. But we did extensive research into tourist buses around all sorts of places, predominantly the Blue Mountains.
"It's [Bathurst] a different market to the Mountains because they're mostly taking people bushwalking - dropping them off at one bushwalking spot and picking them up at another bushwalking spot.
"But here in Bathurst we have got so many good attractions, particularly Mount Panorama on our doorstep. We've got the beautiful architecture, we've got the historical buildings, the museums, the parks, the gardens."
Mr Redpath said the planned opening of the Bathurst Railway Museum later this year played a big part in his decision to start the bus.
"We've got so many good museums, but they're not all next to each other, so you've got to get your way around to see them," he said.
"And we are a bit of a grey nomad centre. So people come in and they park their caravan at the showground, for instance, and then they're immobile.
"And they really like the idea of hopping on the bus and getting going."
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The Bathurst Explorer Bus has pre-recorded commentary - featuring a number of voices - about the city and its 14 stops.
A ticket, which is $28 for a concession holder and $35 for an adult, is valid for 48 hours.
Mr Redpath said he felt it was important for the bus to start as a seven-day-a-week service straight away.
"If you are going to mix it with the big cities, you need to commit to seven days for consistency," he said.
The Bathurst Explorer Bus stops:
- Stop 1 Bathurst Visitors Information Centre
- Stop 2 Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum
- Stop 4 Mount Panorama
- Stop 5 Rydges Mount Panorama
- Stop 6 National Motor Racing Museum
- Stop 7 Bishops Court Boutique Hotel
- Stop 8 Chifley Home Museum
- Stop 9 Bathurst Rail Museum (opening December 2019)
- Stop 10 Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
- Stop 10 Bathurst Library
- Stop 11 Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre
- Stop 12 Bicentennial Peace Park
- Stop 13 Ohkuma Garden
- Stop 13 Old Government Cottage
- Stop 13 The Pillars of Bathurst
- Stop 14 Bathurst Aquatic Centre