A NEW sightseeing card is to be launched to encourage more tourists to spend the day at major attractions including Blenheim Palace.
The Woodstock stately home is to host the launch of Oxford’s official sightseeing card on Wednesday, April 3.
The card, called the Oxford Pass, has been devised by destination management organisation Experience Oxfordshire, which runs the visitor information centre in Broad Street, Oxford Bus Company and Blenheim Palace.
Tourism bosses hope the pass, which will be valid over a two-day period, will boost the number of visitors to the county, and encourage them to stay in hotels.
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The card, costing £69 for an adult and £39 for a child aged five to 16, will be available to book online and it can then be picked up at one of five locations; Oxford Bus Travel Shops in High Street and at Gloucester Green Coach Station, the City Sightseeing Office at Oxford Station, Oxford Visitor Information Centre in Broad Street and at Blenheim Palace Visitor Centre.
It will initially be available for a12-month trial period.
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Blenheim Palace’s CEO Dominic Hare said: “We are delighted to be hosting the launch of the Oxford Pass.
“We believe it will not only encourage many more people to visit both the city and the surrounding area but also to see more of our great attractions and to stay longer.”
The Oxford Pass will be valid for a two-day period and provide entry to a host of attractions including the Ashmolean, Oxford Artisan Distillery, Oxford Castle Unlocked, Carfax Tower, Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum and Blenheim Palace.
The pass also allows free travel on Oxford Bus Company buses in the county.
Tourists will also be able to use it on the Oxford Official Walking Tours, City Sightseeing buses and make unlimited journeys on Thames Travel services across Oxfordshire.
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Hayley Beer-Gamage, CEO of Experience Oxfordshire, said: “This pass has been developed locally to ensure we are making the visitor journey easy for consumers to experience and enjoy as much as possible during their visit.
“The teams at Experience Oxfordshire, Blenheim Palace and the Oxford Bus Company have worked extremely hard to get this exciting new product to market and the project has taken true collaboration and partnership to get it to this point.
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“We look forward to working with our travel trade partners to launch the product internationally."
Passes will be available to book online and can then be picked up at one of four locations; Oxford Bus Ticket Office, City Sightseeing Office at Oxford Station, Experience Oxfordshire Visitor Centre and Blenheim Palace Visitor Centre.
Phil Southall, managing director of Oxford Bus Company and Oxford City Sightseeing, said: “By working together with key partners we’re now able to provide a joined-up service for visitors to Oxfordshire by combining transport and entry to numerous fantastic destination centres in the county."
For more visit experienceoxfordshire.org/oxfordpass
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