Dubai: Up to 20,000 holidaymakers a year in the UAE are expected to pay for sightseeing trips on Segways once tours on the motorised two-wheelers are launched later this year.

The UAE distributor of the US-built devices is in negotiations with venues in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a view to launching services this summer.

Segway UAE has proposed to run the tours year-round, with most demand likely to come from visitors to the UAE.

Steven Brown-Cestero, chief executive of Segway UAE, said his hope was to begin the tours at three sites from late July or early August onwards.

"Each site would have a fixed path that we would follow. We've not chosen the sites randomly - we've chosen them because of the architectural background or because there are beautiful gardens," he said.

The identity of the sites would be revealed once negotiations with the relevant properties were completed, Brown-Cestero said.

In most cases, the tours - due to run seven days a week - will take place on private property, although it is possible one will also make use of public pathways.

A tour will consist of one guide plus up to six tourists, each of whom would pay about Dh250 for a trip lasting about two hours.

Unique

"There aren't really any walking tours of Dubai. Most people see Dubai in a bus or from the inside of another vehicle. These tours would let them see everything at eye level and at two-and-a-half times normal walking speed," Brown-Cestero said.

He said at each of the three properties initially likely to offer the tours, up to 18 people per day or 19,700 a year would be able to take part, a target described as being "easy to achieve".

"I believe that number is doable. I think we'll be able to do 19,000 each year. I know from talking to travel companies that these numbers are low," he said.

Later on, night-time tours might be made available at a fourth location, Brown-Cestero added.

Segway tours are already on offer in more than 140 locations around the globe, among them Washington DC, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Paris, Prague and Budapest.

Segways were created by inventor Dean Kamen and unveiled in November 2001. They are manufactured in New Hampshire in the US.

They have been on sale in the UAE since May 2005 and are designed so that people who have never used them before can learn how to control them in a matter of minutes. They can travel at speeds of up to 20 kilometres per hour.

Fast facts

Each trip to cost around Dh250

• The UAE distributor of the US-built devices is in negotiations with venues in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a view to launching services this summer.
  
  
• A tour will consist of one guide plus up to six tourists, each of whom would pay about Dh250 for a trip lasting about two hours.
  
  
• At each of the three properties initially likely to offer the tours, up to 18 people per day or 19,700 a year would be able to take part.