Belfast first in Europe for 'amphibious' bus tour

By David Young
Tuesday, 19 August 2008

The specially adapted tour bus which can operate on land or sea; the tours will start early next year here.

The specially adapted tour bus which can operate on land or sea; the tours will start early next year here.

With Belfast spending yet another summer under water a local tour operator has stolen a march on the competition by splashing out £2m for a fleet of amphibious buses.

The city is set to become the first in Europe to take delivery of the new high-tech coaches, which are at home on both land and on the water. The flooded motorways which have created a commuting nightmare in Belfast certainly won’t present too many problems for the new Duck Tours when they start in service early next year.

The land and sea crafts, which are capable of doing 70mph on the road and 10 knots on the water, will allow visitors to get up close with all the main attractions, from the City Hall to the Titantic’s launching dock. The city follows Sydney and Boston to become the latest port city to invest in the vehicles. Duck Tours owner Robert Wilson said: “Amphibious tours offer excitement and a genuinely memorable experience but I am focusing also on the quality of the tour, the accuracy of the guided commentary which will be conducted by fully trained personnel and the safety and comfort of our passengers.”

yes andy, £2m of tax payers money which will be over double back in the money it raises in tourism

Posted by ashley | 11.10.08, 14:23 GMT

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Dublin Tour is the Viking Splash tours and are orignal DUks from World war - True amphibious vehicles .... the best and only way to tour !!

Posted by Johnny | 30.09.08, 09:30 GMT

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Wouldn't £2m of tax payers money be better spent on flood defences? That said it looks like good fun!

Posted by andy | 19.08.08, 10:12 GMT

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I am sure Dublin have had a amphibious bus tour for ages. So your claim to be the first in Europe seems a little strange.But maybe their Duck was not as high-tech as the new ones.

Posted by E. Stroomberg | 19.08.08, 10:06 GMT

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