For more than 50 years, Starline Tours has been synonymous with movie stars and their lifestyles, when the company’s founder, Vahid Sapir, bought a limousine company from Sid Grauman’s chauffeur. Along with the small fleet came insider knowledge, and the concept of getting a closer look at where the stars lived, shopped and dined was hatched. The company grew from the original Movie Stars’ Homes and the Grand Tour of Los Angeles, to the Los Angeles CitySightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off franchise, more stars’ home tours, movie location tours, a paparazzi tour, night tours and, of course, the Hollywood sign.
Movie stars have come and gone, rising stars soar, then fade, the new breed of celebrities choose enclaves not only in Beverly Hills and shop not only on Rodeo Drive. Gossip, scandal, weddings, funerals continue – all which provide Starline with ever-changing content and interest for the celebrity lifestyle.
The company operates more than 30 tours daily, out of 4 locations in Los Angeles and covers 100 miles of Los Angeles on open-air double decker buses, develops unique content with partners for new custom tours, supports media and trade needs from four destination marketing organizations, and operates a sister company, TourCoach, with 150 vehicles for charter tours throughout California and Nevada. On any given day, approximately 250 Starline and Tour Coach vehicles are on the road and annually the companies transport more than 2 million people. The infrastructure network is larger than some cities in California.
Starline’s next generation are already on board. The sons of family executives Vahid and Noonoosh Sapir, Fred Sapir and Kami Farhadi have been working for Starline Tours for years. Their stories range from part-time ticket sales during school breaks, fill-in drivers, customer service representatives, IT assistance, and anything else discussed at the dinner table. In fact, Navid Sapir, Richard Sapir and Kian Farhadi have never not known each other or the company, so it is natural that these three next generation family members are taking over the business.
Their inherent knowledge of Los Angeles-based daily operations coupled with their fresh approach on partnering with today’s new breed of stars promises a continuation of tour growth which are more experiential, with more ‘do’ than just ‘view.’
“Visitors to Los Angeles want new ways to feel connected with their favorite stars and the iconic places they see in media,” said Navid Sapir, Vice President. “They want to be immersed in LA, not simply driven past it. This has long been the DNA of Starline.”
The company has added shorter tours for time-crunched visitors like the Hollywood sign tour, offered in an uberesque van for a 20-minute selfie stop at the sign, then express entrance to Madame Tussauds where the stars inside politely pose for hours. A new Los Angeles by Night tour delivers eye-popping Sunset Strip scenery and other hot spots to visitors who want a look at clubs and restaurants they’ve read about. Talks with celebrities and venues are underway for Meet & Greet experiences.
For family visitors to Southern California, Starline now offers an Attraction Pass for heavily discounted admission to theme parks, and a hands-free way to get the kids to the parks without the hassle of car rental, freeway driving and parking with the new Starline Hopper Express.
The Starline family members will continue in their specialty roles; Richard Sapir in Operations, Kian Farhadi in Technology and Navid Sapir managing brand growth while newly hired Monna Sanner steps into the role of sales and marketing.
Starline Tours will be at IPW in Anaheim, in booths 1420-21.
.jpg){kind=tracking}