Created in Marseille in 2003, the “Open Tour” bus company is changing its name to “Colorbüs” on 28 April 2017. A fleet of five colourful buses set out to conquer the city on circuits of 14 points of interest to enable more tourists to discover the many attractions of France’s second city.
In 2016, Julien Guedj, founder of the Hello Shuttle shuttle company, and his associates took over Open Tour and tried to develop a product that was much appreciated by cruise passengers with little time to visit Marseille.
Faced with the exponential growth of tourism and the ever-increasing presence of cruise passengers in the city of Marseille, the four partners decided to further improve the offer and the service by creating a new independent brand, Colorbüs.
Five colourful buses (compared to three previously) bearing the smiley face symbolise the change and the independence of the management from the Open Tour brand owned by Paris. The brand without any local connotations will thus be able to develop in other cities.
The choice was made for very colourful, easily identifiable buses with a frequency of 20 to 30 minutes between each bus and a service 7 days a week.
The “Hop-On Hop-Off” system allows ColorBus to take tourists to the major centres of interest in Marseille in 1 hour and 15 minutes, if they do not get off.
With a frequency of 20-30 minutes, a service 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm, we think we can meet the demand of a large clientele and the time requirements of cruise passengers.
We will be in line with major cities such as Rome and Barcelona, which already use this system of tourist visits,” explains Julien Guedj.
In May 2019, Colorbüs opened a new tour, the Blue Line, dedicated to the southern districts of Marseille, including the Stade Vélodrome, Le Corbusier, Escale Borély and the Prado beaches.
With commentary in French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, the two tours now cover 25 picturesque points of the city: the Old Port, La Criée, Le Pharo, the Catalans, the Vallon des Auffes, La Corniche, Notre Dame de la Garde, Saint Victor Abbey, Cours Estienne d’Orves, the Cannebière, the Major and the Panier, the Joliette and the Mucem+Fort Saint Jean
History of Colorbus
WHO ARE WE?
A new vision
OF TOURISM IN MARSEILLE
Created in Marseille in 2003, the “Open Tour” bus company is changing its name to “Colorbüs” on 28 April 2017. A fleet of five colourful buses set out to conquer the city on circuits of 14 points of interest to enable more tourists to discover the many attractions of France’s second city.
In 2016, Julien Guedj, founder of the Hello Shuttle shuttle company, and his associates took over Open Tour and tried to develop a product that was much appreciated by cruise passengers with little time to visit Marseille.
Faced with the exponential growth of tourism and the ever-increasing presence of cruise passengers in the city of Marseille, the four partners decided to further improve the offer and the service by creating a new independent brand, Colorbüs.
Five colourful buses (compared to three previously) bearing the smiley face symbolise the change and the independence of the management from the Open Tour brand owned by Paris. The brand without any local connotations will thus be able to develop in other cities.
The choice was made for very colourful, easily identifiable buses with a frequency of 20 to 30 minutes between each bus and a service 7 days a week.
The Concept
Colorbüs
The “Hop-On Hop-Off” system allows ColorBus to take tourists to the major centres of interest in Marseille in 1 hour and 15 minutes, if they do not get off.
With a frequency of 20-30 minutes, a service 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm, we think we can meet the demand of a large clientele and the time requirements of cruise passengers.
We will be in line with major cities such as Rome and Barcelona, which already use this system of tourist visits,” explains Julien Guedj.
In May 2019, Colorbüs opened a new tour, the Blue Line, dedicated to the southern districts of Marseille, including the Stade Vélodrome, Le Corbusier, Escale Borély and the Prado beaches.
With commentary in French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, the two tours now cover 25 picturesque points of the city: the Old Port, La Criée, Le Pharo, the Catalans, the Vallon des Auffes, La Corniche, Notre Dame de la Garde, Saint Victor Abbey, Cours Estienne d’Orves, the Cannebière, the Major and the Panier, the Joliette and the Mucem+Fort Saint Jean
Due to the visit of Pope Francis and traffic blockages, our route has been modified for today and will be run as a closed tour, with no possibility of getting off.
Thank you for your understanding.
