Bazbus

Name

Bazbus

Legal name

Triumph Tours & Trips LLC

Website

https://bazbus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bazbus operates a hop-on, hop-off bus service along South Africa's Garden Route, serving international and domestic leisure travelers with flexible travel passes and modular day tours including wildlife safaris, wine tastings, and marine wildlife experiences, sold direct-to-consumer via its website. Founded 1995.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tour and Travel Services

NAICS

Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation (4852), Charter Bus Industry (48551), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other (4879)

SIC

Local & Suburban Transit & Interurban Hwy Passenger Trans (4100)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHADAFAC

Long-Distance / Intercity Ridesharing

Travel & Hospitality/Car Rental & Mobility Services/Carpooling & Ridesharing (Shared Rides)

Keywords

• Hop-on hop-off bus
• Garden Route travel
• Safari tour packages
• South Africa tourism
• Day tour services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hop-on Hop-off Travel Passes: Core revenue stream from selling travel passes that allow unlimited hop-on hop-off travel along specific routes (Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, Garden Route, etc.) for specified durations (14 days, etc.). Passes are valid for 12 months from purchase or first travel date.
2. Day Tours and Safari Packages: Individual day tours and multi-day safari packages including Cape Peninsula tours, Addo Elephant Park tours, Kruger Safari packages, vineyard tours, and marine wildlife experiences.
3. Optional Add-ons and Upgrades: Revenue from optional extras such as shark cage diving, bungee jumping, single room supplements for solo travelers, and additional activities at various destinations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Bazbus sells flexible hop-on hop-off bus passes along South Africa's Garden Route (Cape Town to Port Elizabeth with 14 stops), plus a curated catalog of day tours and multi-day safari packages. Customers buy passes online, get door-to-door hotel/hostel pickup and drop-off, and use a proprietary Hop Login system to manage travel dates and pickups. Passes are valid for 12 months and let travelers set their own pace across the route.

Product overview

Bazbus is a South African hop-on, hop-off bus service founded in 1995, offering flexible transportation and curated day tours across major tourist destinations in South Africa. The core product is the Hop-on Hop-off Bus Pass system, which operates along the Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth with 14 stops. This is complemented by modular add-on day tours including safari experiences (Addo Elephant Park, Kruger Park), wine tours (Stellenbosch), marine wildlife encounters (Hermanus Marine Big 5 Sea Safari, Shark Cage Diving), cultural tours (Table Mountain, Township, Bo-Kaap), and multi-day adventure packages (3 Day Explorer, 4 Day Garden Route Adventure). The company also provides a proprietary Hop Login booking system for managing reservations. Pricing ranges from $49 (Cape Peninsula tour) to $599 (2-day Addo tour) for day trips, with multi-day passes from $199 and safari packages up to $1,684.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hop-on Hop-off Bus Pass Flexible multi-day travel pass allowing unlimited hop-on, hop-off travel along the Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, with daily departures and door-to-door hotel/hostel pickup.
• Cape Town to Port Elizabeth Hop-on Hop-off Pass 14-stop hop-on hop-off pass with unlimited stops between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth along the Garden Route, with no time limit.
• Port Elizabeth to Cape Town Hop-on Hop-off Pass 14-stop hop-on hop-off pass traveling east to west from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, with flexible departure dates and accommodation choices.
• 14 Day Travel Pass Unlimited travel pass allowing back-and-forth travel in any direction between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth for 14 days, with all stops included.
• Cape Peninsula Full Day Tour Day tour visiting Hout Bay, Boulders Beach penguin sanctuary, Cape Point Nature Reserve, and the Cape of Good Hope, with optional boat trip to Seal Island.
• Stellenbosch Vineyard & Wine Tasting Day Tour Day tour to Stellenbosch wine region visiting four vineyards with wine tastings, cheese, chocolate, and biltong pairings, including South African lunch.
• Full Day Safari from Cape Town One-day safari experience departing Cape Town with open-vehicle game drive, breakfast, lunch, and chance to see Big 5 animals in a malaria-free environment.
• Hermanus Marine Big 5 Sea Safari Day Tour Sea safari from Cape Town to Hermanus offering 2.5-hour boat trip to spot whales, dolphins, penguins, seals, and great white sharks, including conservation fee and lunch.
• 2 Day Safari from Cape Town Two-day safari with afternoon and morning game drives, overnight 4-star lodge accommodation, breakfast, lunch, and dinner included.
• Table Mountain Hike, Township & Bo-Kaap Full Day Tour Combo tour hiking Table Mountain, visiting Langa Township for cultural insights, and walking through Bo-Kaap neighborhood, limited to 10 participants.
• Addo Elephant Park Full Day Tour Full day safari in Addo Elephant National Park, the 3rd largest in South Africa, with chances to see Big 5 and the unique flightless dung beetle.
• Addo Elephant Park 2 Day Tour Two-day Addo safari with game drives, Sundays River cruise, accommodation, meals, and opportunity to view the Big 7 including southern right whales and great white sharks.
• 2 Day Combo Tour – Vineyards & Sea Safari Two-day tour combining Stellenbosch wine tasting with marine safari in Hermanus, including overnight stay in Stellenbosch.
• 3 Day Explorer Three-day adventure from Cape Town to Mossel Bay and Hermanus with sunset cruise, quad bike safari, kayaking, and overnight stays.
• 4 Day Garden Route Adventure Four-day Garden Route tour including Knysna quad biking, Featherbed Nature Reserve, Tsitsikamma black water tubing, and optional bungee jumping at Bloukrans Bridge.
• Kruger Park Safari Packages Multi-day safari packages (3-5 days) to Kruger National Park with various accommodation options including tents, chalets, treehouses, and luxury tented chalets at Balule Game Reserve.
• Shark Cage Diving Full day shark cage diving experience in Gansbaai, the great white shark capital of the world.

Quantifiable outcome

• 300,000+ happy customers since 1995
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Contiki: Global guided tour operator targeting 18-35 year old travelers with multi-country packages. Overlaps with Bazbus's backpacker and couple segments on safari/scenic itineraries, but Contiki operates coach tours with fixed schedules.
• TourRadar: Online marketplace for multi-day guided tours and adventure travel packages. Adjacent competitor for Bazbus's safari and multi-day package bookings with similar traveler demographics.
• GetYourGuide: Global tours, activities, and sightseeing booking platform. Competes for Bazbus's day-tour and safari bookings as a distribution channel/competitor, but is a marketplace rather than an operator.
• Intrepid Travel: Globally recognized small-group adventure tour operator with Africa itineraries including South Africa. Comparable experiential and sustainability positioning targeting independent-minded travelers, though operating at larger international scale.

Direct peers

• City Sightseeing: Worldwide hop-on hop-off bus franchise operating in dozens of countries. Closest conceptual analogue to Bazbus's flexible multi-stop sightseeing pass structure with tourist-friendly commentary and ticket tiers.
• Big Bus Tours: Global hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus operator present in major cities worldwide. Highly comparable to Bazbus's flexible pass-based tourism model, though operating in larger urban markets at greater scale.
• Magic Bus (Australia): Australian hop-on hop-off backpacker bus network along the East Coast. Mirrors Bazbus's flexible pass structure, hostel pickup model, and backpacker/couple target segments.
• Stray Travel: Hop-on hop-off network bus operator in New Zealand and Australia targeting backpackers and independent travelers. Directly comparable operating model, customer segment, and flexible pass concept, though operating in a different region.

Regional players

• Greyhound South Africa: Iconic South African intercity bus brand operating scheduled long-distance services. Operates in the same domestic intercity passenger transport market but with fixed-route scheduled service versus Bazbus's flexible tourist passes.
• Intercape: South Africa's largest intercity bus operator serving long-distance routes nationwide. Comparable intercity passenger transport model in the same domestic market, but focused on scheduled commuter service rather than tourist hop-on hop-off.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bazbus
• Instagraminstagram.com/bazbus_sa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/baz-bus---the-only-way-to-backpack-in-south-africa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Bazbus