Sightseeing buses: Cruising, timing and the montage of attractions

This article focuses on spatial performances, modes of vision and touring practices enabled by sightseeing bus-tours. Thereby, three aspects of the process by which these buses transform urban space into destination space are discussed. First, bus-tours delineate, as they move, a unique geography of routes and stops, which is based on structured improvisation. Second, guiding practices of tour guides are crucial for assembling together a destination and their success depends on timing. Third, tourist experiences enabled by sightseeing bus-tours involve a 'cruise-ship-like' style of movement and a mode of vision reminiscent of the 'montage of coming attractions' characteristic of film-trailers. The article concludes by stressing the multiple spatial displacements involved in bus-tour production of destination space.