Open Tour Marseille: ambitions of SMT’s new owners

As part of its divestment strategy from the group Tourexcel, LBO France sold the Marseille Tourism Company (SMT), the operator for the brand Open Tour in Marseille, to a trio of investors from Marseille.

These investors are Julien Guedj, founder of Hello Shuttle, the group Swaton represented by Nicolas Bertrand and Marie-Eva Swaton, directors of the brokerage group Eurosud Assurances, and M Capital Partners.

Now, the SMT is directed by Julien Guedj. “We are convinced that the cultural and economic development of Marseille is intimately tied to the growth of the tourism sector. Our ambition is to provide the city of Marseille with a service worthy of the main tourism cities in the world,” he announced.

“The exceptional boom of the tourism sector in Marseille, especially in terms of cruises and conventions, motivated our will to invest in this new activity that helps to promote our city.

We are sending a strong message. We believe in our city, we want to contribute to its development more than ever,” adds the Swaton trio.

The SMT has a fleet of double-decker buses that take tourists on the exploration of the Marseille’s main tourism sites: Vieux-Port, the Catalans, the Corniche, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde...

The bus tour follows a “Hop on, Hop off” concept. Allowing visitors to get on and off the bus freely throughout the different stops.

In 2015, more than 55,000 travelers visited Marseille with the SMT.


Open Tour Marseille : les ambitions des nouveaux propriétaires de la SMT