Go City

Go City is a British travel company focused on sightseeing passes and bundled admission products for tourists. The business was founded in 1999 as Leisure Pass Group by Angus Rankine and Andrew Grahame. Its core proposition is to combine admission to multiple attractions, tours, and other visitor experiences into a single pass, generally offering travelers a choice of included activities or a bundled package rather than requiring each ticket to be purchased separately. This places Go City between a travel marketplace, a destination-activity distributor, and a tourism-products company. The company developed through both organic expansion and acquisitions. In 2012, Primary Capital acquired Leisure Pass Group for £35 million in an arrangement involving then-chief executive Darren Evans. In December 2016, Exponent Private Equity acquired the company from Primary Capital for £150 million. That transaction also brought Smart Destinations and The New York Pass into the Leisure Pass Group structure, increasing the breadth of its city-pass portfolio and combining several established sightseeing-pass operations under one ownership platform. Leisure Pass Group adopted the Go City name in July 2021. The rebrand positioned the business around a unified international consumer brand rather than a collection of separate local or legacy pass names. One of the better-known products within the portfolio has been The New York Pass, while the company has also operated destination products such as the Paris Pass and passes for major cities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. As of July 2024, the company was described as offering passes in 31 cities spanning 17 countries and four continents. Its listed destinations included Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Gothenburg, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Boston, Cancún, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Oahu, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sydney. Berlin had previously appeared among its destinations but was no longer listed as an available city pass at that point. The portfolio therefore covers both major international tourism gateways and regional leisure destinations. Go City has described itself as the world's largest provider of tourist passes, with more than 7.5 million active users and approximately 700,000 passes sold annually, according to the cited reference material. These figures are not independently dated in the available material beyond the surrounding company description, so they should be treated as reported operating-scale claims rather than audited financial disclosures. The company remains active, but detailed information about its current ownership, leadership, headquarters, financial performance, and corporate structure is not established by the supplied sources.

Go City began in 1999 as Leisure Pass Group, founded by Angus Rankine and Andrew Grahame. From the outset, the company operated in the tourism-services sector, packaging access to multiple attractions and visitor experiences into destination-focused passes. This model allowed travelers to prepay for a set of activities or select from an included catalogue, while giving attractions and tour operators an additional distribution channel. The business changed ownership during a period of expansion in the private-equity-backed travel sector. Primary Capital acquired Leisure Pass Group in 2012 for £35 million, with the transaction arranged during the tenure of chief executive Darren Evans. Four years later, Exponent Private Equity acquired Leisure Pass Group from Primary Capital for £150 million on 12 December 2016. The 2016 deal also merged Smart Destinations and The New York Pass into the Leisure Pass Group structure. The combination brought together related sightseeing-pass businesses and strengthened the company's presence in several major tourist markets. The New York Pass became one of the prominent legacy products associated with the group. The wider portfolio included passes for cities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, with the company adding destinations at different points over time. Hong Kong was added in 2018, Singapore in 2019, and Amsterdam, Gothenburg, and Stockholm in 2021. Prague was listed as a new destination in 2024. Berlin had been offered historically but was no longer shown as an available pass in the July 2024 destination list. In July 2021, Leisure Pass Group rebranded as Go City. The new name created a common consumer-facing identity for the company's geographically distributed products and helped move the business away from a portfolio organized primarily around legacy local brands. Products continued to be built around prepaid access to attractions, tours, and activities in individual destinations. By July 2024, Go City was described as operating in 31 cities across 17 countries and four continents. The listed markets included destinations in the United Arab Emirates, China, Singapore, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, the United States, Mexico, and Australia. The company stated or was described in the cited reference as having more than 7.5 million active users and selling roughly 700,000 passes annually. The available material does not provide audited financial statements, a confirmed current owner, a current executive roster, or a verified headquarters address. Go City is nevertheless presented as an active international provider of tourist passes and bundled destination experiences.

• 2024

  Prague added to the listed portfolio

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Prague was listed among the company's newer city-pass destinations.

• 2021

  Go City rebrand

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Leisure Pass Group adopted Go City as its corporate and consumer-facing brand in July.

• 2019

  Singapore added to the destination portfolio

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Singapore was added to the company's city-pass network.

• 2018

  Hong Kong added to the destination portfolio

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Hong Kong was listed as a new city-pass destination.

• 2016

  Exponent acquisition and portfolio combination

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Exponent Private Equity bought Leisure Pass Group for £150 million, with Smart Destinations and The New York Pass joining the group.

• 2012

  Primary Capital acquisition

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Primary Capital acquired Leisure Pass Group for £35 million.

• 1999

  Leisure Pass Group founded

  [1]Go Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Angus Rankine and Andrew Grahame founded the company that became Go City.

A global sightseeing-pass and destination-experiences brand that simplifies tourist admission planning by bundling attractions, tours, and activities into prepaid city products.

• Sightseeing passes

  Go City city passes

  Go City's main product family consists of prepaid passes for individual tourist destinations. Depending on the city and pass format, customers can receive admission to a selection of museums, landmarks, tours, cruises, and other activities, either through an all-inclusive structure or by choosing a specified number of attractions. The products are designed to reduce separate ticket purchases and provide a single planning and payment mechanism for city sightseeing.

• Destination sightseeing pass

  The New York Pass

  The New York Pass is a major legacy destination product associated with the Leisure Pass Group portfolio and later integrated into the Go City brand family. It bundles access to participating New York City attractions and visitor experiences, allowing travelers to use one pass across multiple activities during a selected period or under a selected usage format. The product helped establish the group's presence in a high-volume international tourism market.

• Destination sightseeing pass

  Paris Pass

  The Paris Pass is the portfolio's Paris-focused sightseeing product. It packages access to participating attractions and tourism experiences in the French capital, presenting visitors with a bundled alternative to buying admissions individually. It is one of the destination-specific pass names identified in descriptions of the company's product range.

• 2021

  Unify the business under the Go City brandStrategy

  Background

  The company had grown through a portfolio of destination products and acquired businesses carrying different legacy identities.

  Action taken

  Leisure Pass Group rebranded as Go City in July 2021.

  Aftermath

  The rebrand established a single international-facing identity for the company's city-pass and destination-experience offering.

  Source

• 2016

  Acquire and combine related sightseeing-pass businessesM&A

  Background

  Leisure Pass Group was sold by Primary Capital to Exponent Private Equity as the company pursued a broader international tourism-pass platform.

  Action taken

  Exponent acquired Leisure Pass Group for £150 million on 12 December 2016, and the transaction brought Smart Destinations and The New York Pass into the combined group.

  Aftermath

  The combination expanded the group's portfolio of destination passes and consolidated several related sightseeing businesses under one ownership structure.

  Acquisition price. £150 million (12 December 2016)

  Source

1. 1Go Cityen.wikipedia.org