Foreign and domestic tourists visiting the city may soon have the luxury of tasting wines produced in Maharashtra along with musical entertainment on new air-conditioned open deck buses that will offer a 'hop-on, hop-off' (Ho-Ho) service. It is being designed on the lines of the Ho-Ho bus tour of London to enable tourists to visit prominent destinations across the city at their convenience and catch a bus every 20-30 minutes using a single card. The proposed bus service is a joint venture between Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and BEST. In the first phase, this service will be offered to and from the Gateway of India.

Several AC buses are lying idle at the 36 BEST depots across the city, and some of these will be given on lease to the MTDC. "We will ensure that the AC is in good working condition and the bus is neat. If necessary, the MTDC can paint these buses and promote them exclusively for Ho-Ho service,"' he said.

Sources said the bus may also have an option to pick up tourists at stops near five-star hotels. "This will also generate more revenue for the cash-strapped (BEST) undertaking while ensuring our fleet of AC buses is put to good use,"' said an official from BEST transport wing.

Meanwhile, five big Volvo buses MTDC had bought two years ago are being plied on Konkan route from Mumbai and have been outsourced to a bus operator called Purple. "Those buses are long and heavy and can't be plied on narrow roads inside the city. Under the new Ho-Ho service, initially BEST will run its five-six AC buses and eventually MTDC has plans to buy 11 new buses. The pick-up points, starting date and fares are being worked out based on costing for maintenance, fuel prices in the international market and labour charges," Jain added.