What Grupo Julià does

Grupo Julià is a family-owned Spanish corporate group founded in 1933 and headquartered in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), specializing in passenger transport and tourism services. The group operates through three core divisions: Tourism (wholesale and receptive tour operations via Julià Travel, Julià Tours Argentina, Julià Tours México, and Julià Tours & Tickets retail stores); City Tour Worldwide (panoramic hop-on hop-off bus and tourist train services in Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastián, Rome, London via a City Sightseeing/Stagecoach joint venture, Mexico City, San Francisco via Gray Line, Granada, and Tangier); and Passenger Transport (discretionary coach services, scheduled urban/interurban routes, school transport, and cruise passenger transfers via Autocares Julià, Autocars Nadal, Direct Bus, and Julià Premium). The company serves 12+ million international customers annually with 1,400+ employees and a fleet of 450+ vehicles across 20+ cities in 8 countries (Spain, Andorra, UK, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Morocco, USA).

The underlying technology platform combines sustainable mobility infrastructure with tourism distribution systems. Operational technology includes the SAEI real-time fleet management system for electric tourist buses, 1,038 kW of contracted green energy with 100 kW on-site solar at the L'Hospitalet depot, eight double chargers supporting 4-6 hour balanced charging for 44 planned electric bus units, and 360-degree cameras, videovigilance, driver assistance, WiFi, USB, and individual audio guides in up to 16 languages on tourist buses. Nautical operations deploy solar-powered recyclable catamarans (250-seat Ecosail) and immersive digital art experiences. Information security is aligned with ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ENS, RGPD/LOPDGDD, and NIS2 standards. Distribution is anchored by the Amadeus Travel IMS multi-channel B2B platform reaching 12M+ travel agency customers, supplemented by Expedia Group, City Sightseeing, Gray Line, and physical retail stores in five cities.

The business model is predominantly transaction-based across five revenue streams: tourism receptive and touroperation (transaction fees on a catalog of 230+ excursions and circuits across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco); hop-on hop-off bus and train tourism (per-ride or day-pass ticket sales, 4M+ passengers/year through City Tour Worldwide); discretionary and scheduled passenger transport (charter, school, corporate, cruise transfer contracts, plus scheduled airport shuttle like Direct Bus Barcelona Airport-Andorra with 16 daily frequencies); retail tourism tickets and excursions through Tours & Tickets stores; and maritime experiences via This Is Med and City Sailing catamarans and yacht charter. GTM is multi-channel: B2B sales to tour operators and travel agencies (sales-led), global channel partnerships with Gray Line and City Sightseeing (channel partners), and seasonal/event-driven products tied to peak tourism flows. The 90-year family-owned heritage, multi-brand portfolio, regulatory concessions, and global distribution network form the core commercial moat.

Name

Grupo Julià

Legal name

EUROWAYS, S.L.

Website

https://grupojulia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1933

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Grupo Julià is a family-owned Spanish tourism and passenger transport group operating in 20+ cities across 8 countries, running three divisions: receptive tourism, hop-on hop-off bus services (City Tour Worldwide), and passenger transport, serving 12+ million customers with a fleet of 450+ vehicles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tourism and Passenger Transport Services

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Travel Agencies (56151), Charter Bus Industry (485510)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Country/Regional Circuit Tour Operators (THAKADAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private/Customized Multi-Day Tour Operators (THAKADAC), Group & Series Tour Operators (Seat-in-Coach/Fixed Departures) (THAKAEAD), Charter & Tour Coach Operators (TLAFAFAB)

Keywords

• Passenger transport services
• Hop-on hop-off bus tours
• Receptive tourism services
• Electric bus fleet operations
• Maritime tourism experiences

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Tourism Receptive & Touroperation: Wholesale and receptive tourism services through brands including Julià Travel, Julia Tours Argentina, Julia Tours México, and Gray Line San Francisco. Covers multi-destination and receptive tourism across Europe, Middle East, Americas, and Asia. Catalog of over 150 activities and excursions and 80+ circuits across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
2. Hop-on Hop-off Bus & Train Tourism: Panoramic double-decker bus and train tourist services under the City Tour and Gray Line brands, operating in major international capitals including Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastián, Rome, London, Mexico City, Tangier, San Francisco, and Granada. Revenue generated through ticket sales per ride or day passes. City Tour Worldwide transports over 4 million passengers annually.
3. Discretionary & Scheduled Passenger Transport: Chartered coach services (discretionary transport), regular urban and interurban routes, school transport, corporate employee shuttles, cruise passenger transfers, and luxury coach hire under brands Autocares Julià, Autocars Nadal, Direct Bus, and Julià Premium. Direct Bus provides 16 daily frequencies between Barcelona Airport and Andorra.
4. Retail Tourism Tickets & Excursions: Physical retail stores (Tours & Tickets) selling attraction tickets and excursions in Barcelona, Madrid, Costa del Sol, London, and San Francisco. Also online ticket sales via juliatravel.com.
5. Maritime Experiences & Yacht Charter: Nautical experiences including catamaran sailing tours (City Sailing), yacht and sailing boat rental, and corporate events in Barcelona, Costa Brava, and the Balearic Islands under This Is Med brand. Fleet includes EcoSail catamaran with 250-seat capacity and sunset music cruises.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Grupo Julià is a family-owned group operating three service divisions: a Tourism division (receptive tour operation and wholesale travel services via Julià Travel and the Julià Tours Argentina/México brands), a City Tour Worldwide division (panoramic double-decker bus and tourist train sightseeing services in 8 countries), and a Passenger Transport division (discretionary coach hire, urban and interurban scheduled services, school and corporate shuttles). Its offering is sold to end consumers through retail stores, brand websites and onboard ticketing, and to tour operators via an Amadeus-integrated B2B platform, with a flagship recent commitment to a fully electric Barcelona City Tour fleet (12-year AMB concession).

Product overview

Grupo Julià is a multi-brand platform operating three main divisions: Tourism (wholesale and receptive tour operations via Julià Travel, Julia Tours Argentina, Julia Tours México, This Is Med, City Sailing, Gray Line San Francisco, and Julià Tours & Tickets), City Tour Worldwide (panoramic hop-on hop-off bus and tourist train services in major international capitals), and Passenger Transport (discretionary and regular transport via Autocares Julià, Autocars Nadal, Direct Bus, and Premium Julia). The platform also includes the recently launched 100% electric Barcelona City Tour fleet and nautical experiences through City Sailing and This Is Med yacht charters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• City Tour World Wide: International tourist bus operator managing City Tour bus and train tourist services in major capitals including Barcelona, Madrid, London, Rome, Mexico City, and Tangier.
• Julià Travel
• Julià Tours Argentina
• Julià Tours México
• This Is Med
• City Sailing
• Gray Line San Francisco
• Julià Tours & Tickets
• Autocares Julià
• Autocars Nadal
• Direct Bus
• Julià Premium

Products and services

• City Tour Worldwide Hop-on Hop-off Bus and Tourist Train Services Panoramic double-decker bus and tourist train sightseeing services in major international capitals, carrying over 4 million passengers annually under the City Tour and Gray Line brands with multilingual audio guides and accessibility features.
• Julià Travel Receptive Tour Operation (Wholesale Travel Agency) Travel agency special Travel agency specializing in receptive tourism in Spain with a catalogue of more than 150 activities and excursions and over 80 circuits across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, distributed to travel agencies and tour operators via the Amadeus Travel IMS platform.
• Julià Tours Argentina — Wholesale Multi-Destination Tour Operator Wholesale multi-destination tour operator from Argentina serving clients across Europe, Middle East, the Americas and Brazil with Grupo Julià's receptive tourism products. Wholesale multi-destination tour operator from Mexico providing national and international services across Africa, Middle East, North America, South America, Central America, Caribbean, Europe and Asia.
• Autocares Julià Discretionary and Scheduled Coach Services Discretionary passenger transport services in Spain, regular urban service in Barcelona and special regular services for companies including employee transport, school routes, sports team transfers and cruise passenger transfers.
• Autocars Nadal Urban and Interurban Transport (Andorra) Discretionary and urban passenger transport services in Andorra with a fleet of 40 vehicles, known for quality and innovation and operating under a 15-year interurban concession.
• Direct Bus (Barcelona Airport–Andorra Scheduled Service) Direct scheduled transport line connecting Barcelona Airport with Andorra, offering 16 daily frequencies as a fast, comfortable cross-border connection.
• Julià Premium Luxury Coach Hire Luxury reduced-format transport with 19 and 25-seat vehicles featuring exclusive design, high comfort, advanced safety features and premium finishes for corporate and private hire.
• City Sailing Maritime Excursions Daily sailing excursions along the Barcelona coast using solar-powered EcoSail catamarans, offering 60–90 minute Mediterranean trips to view the Barcelona skyline from the water.
• This Is Med Yacht Charter and Corporate Maritime Events Yacht rental and bespoke corporate event specialists operating in Barcelona, Costa Brava and the Balearic Islands with a diverse fleet of sailboats, catamarans, yachts and boats (acquired by Grupo Julià in 2020).
• Julià Tours & Tickets Retail Attraction and Excursion Tickets Retail division selling tickets to tourist attractions and excursions through physical stores in Barcelona, Madrid, Costa del Sol, London and San Francisco and online via juliatravel.com.
• Gray Line San Francisco Sightseeing Tours Tourist sightseeing operations operated by Grupo Julià in San Francisco since 2014 under the global Gray Line brand (700+ locations across six continents since 1910).
• Barcelona City Tour 100% Electric Tourist Bus Service Zero-emission hop-on hop-off tourist bus service in Barcelona operated by UTE Grupo Julià-Moventis with multilingual audio guides, accessibility features, 360-degree cameras and on-board WiFi/USB, with 44 fully electric units planned by 2029 under a 12-year AMB concession.
• Barcelona Night Tour Nighttime Bus Experience New nightly tourist bus route covering Barcelona's main landmarks illuminated at night, with a duration of one hour and forty minutes, launched in June 2025 by Barcelona City Tour (UTE Grupo Julià and Moventis).
• Julià Travel & Familia Torres Enogastronomic Experience Five-hour premium coach enotourism experience from Barcelona to the Penedès wine region with vineyard walk, Familia Torres winery visit, and gastronomic brunch with wine tasting, offered three days a week in English with multilingual support.
• Ecosail Art Catamaran by City Sailing by Julià Immersive digital-art catamaran sailing experience (250-seat capacity) featuring exterior artwork by Albert Espona depicting ocean wave rhythms and interior light sculptures inspired by sea life, departing from Port de Barcelona.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4 million+ passengers transported annually by City Tour Worldwide
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor, flagship and core.

• Familia TorresminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025Joint enotourism experience launched May 2025 — Julià Travel organizes premium coach tours from Barcelona to Penedès wine region with Familia Torres, including vineyard walk, winery visit, and gastronomic brunch with wine tasting. Activity offered 3 days/week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), departing 9:30 from Barcelona Estació del Nord. familia Torres is the world's most admired wine brand (7 times named by Drinks International).
• MoventisflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint venture (UTE) between Grupo Julià and Moventis (Moventia group division for collective mobility) to operate Barcelona City Tour bus service for 12 years (concession from Área Metropolitana de Barcelona). 44 fully electric buses (€42M investment), zero emissions, zero noise pollution. Moventis also operates in France, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Ireland, managing 7,300+ employees, 252M passengers/year, and a fleet of 2,508 buses, 41 trams, and 40,000 bicycles.
• Área Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Public authority that owns and awarded the 12-year concession for Barcelona bus tourist service to the UTE Grupo Julià–Moventis. AMB owns the 44 electric buses at concession end. UTE pays annual concession fee of €3.85M fixed plus 16.14% variable revenue share. AMB provides mandate for full electrification and environmental sustainability plan.
• City SightseeingflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Joint venture between Grupo Julià, City Sightseeing (global hop-on hop-off leader with operations in 100+ cities), and Stagecoach Group (UK's largest bus operator) for London bus tourist operations starting May 2021. Market potential of 32 million visitors in London. Combines Stagecoach's local knowledge, City Sightseeing's hop-on hop-off expertise, and Grupo Julià's City Tour operational experience. Vehicles meet Euro 6 environmental standards with audioguide in 11 languages and accessibility features.
• The Gravity WaveminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Environmental partnership where City Sailing by Julià collaborates with The Gravity Wave to remove 1 kg of plastic per day from the Mediterranean Sea — equivalent to 40,000 plastic bottles per year. Aligns with ecological catamaran sustainability mission.
• Turisme de BarcelonaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Managed the WTTC 'Safe Travels' certification process for Autocares Julià, with validation by SGS certificadora. Turisme de Barcelona facilitated international safety recognition.
• AmadeuscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2018Agreement with Amadeus to develop a multi-channel tourism distribution platform (Julià Travel World Wide) providing access to all products for 12+ million customers through travel agencies and tour operators globally via Amadeus Travel IMS. Enables digital booking and contracting of excursions and activities.
• Expedia GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2018Distribution agreement for Julià Travel World Wide products through Expedia Group platforms, expanding international online reach for receptive tourism services.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Civitatis: Online tours-and-activities marketplace focused on Spanish-speaking markets — overlapping with Julià Travel's online excursion catalog in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.
• Flix SE (FlixBus): Long-distance intercity bus operator across Europe — comparable on motorcoach economics and digital distribution, different on asset-light franchise model vs. Julià's owned fleet.

Broad incumbents

• Alsa: Spain's largest passenger transport company (part of National Express Group), operating nationwide regular and discretionary coach services — comparable on Spain bus operations, broader portfolio (long-distance + urban + international) than Julià.
• TUI Group: Global tourism conglomerate with tour operations and destination services — comparable at wholesale receptive tourism layer (TUI Destination Services competes with Julià Tours Mexico/Argentina for B2B tour-operator contracts).
• Hotelbeds (Hotelbeds Group): B2B bedbank and tour-services platform acquired by Cinven/CPIC — direct competitor through its activities/excursions distribution to travel agencies; comparable business model in wholesale receptive services.

Direct peers

• City Sightseeing: Global hop-on hop-off bus operator present in 100+ cities on 5 continents — direct competitor in City Tour Worldwide's core business and JV partner for Grupo Julià's London launch. Essentially the same product and customer segment, scaled larger globally.
• Stagecoach Group: UK's largest bus operator; Stagecoach is Grupo Julià's JV partner in London tourist-bus operations and provides fleet operations know-how — directly comparable in charter and urban passenger transport economics.
• Moventis (Moventia): Collective mobility division of Moventia, JV partner with Grupo Julià in the UTE for Barcelona City Tour — operates 2,508 buses, 252M passengers/year across France, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Ireland; direct functional peer in urban/interurban transport.
• Gray Line Worldwide: Global sightseeing tour operator in 700+ locations since 1910 — directly comparable tour/excursion product mix; Grupo Julià actually operates Gray Line San Francisco, so it sits both as affiliate and franchise-network peer.

Regional players

• Turibus (Mobility ADO / ADO Group): Hop-on hop-off bus operator in Mexico City since 2001 — directly comparable City Tour-style offering in the very market where Grupo Julià operates; fellow late-1990s/2000s Mexican tourism-bus launch.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzz20x0j3BGgDxh2w-RUQpg
• LinkedInes.linkedin.com/company/julia-travel

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grupo Julià