The idea to adopt the buses in Brisbane was floated in Brisbane Times after reports of several tourism breakthroughs: a major increase in the number of tourists visiting the city; the new Brisbane Airport runway to open mid-year; the new casino and resort complex to open in William Street; and the new cruise ship terminal opening in mid-2020. The council ran a tour of city highlights on a normal council bus for 25 years but then outsourced it in 2014 to the privately run Big Bus Tours, which ceased opeating its Brisbane City Explorer in 2017. Brisbane's historic Breakfast Creek Hotel could be one of the stops along the hop-on, hop-off bus trail. Credit:Tourism and Events Queensland "It would be great to see this service pop up again in Brisbane," Cr Schrinner said. "They are in many cities around the world. These are privately run tour buses and they give people a great snapshot into a city," he said. "When someone is arriving in Brisbane for the first time and wants to get a feel for the place and wants to see the main attractions, this is a great way of doing it."

Cr Schrinner said he welcomed support from Tourism Minister Kate Jones to allow seed funding from the Destination Queensland initiative if a good concept could be put forward. He noted that Brisbane Marketing had also offered seed funding to put a submission together. "When you look at the opportunities with the new airport runway opening in July and the new cruise ship terminal opening in mid-year as well, there will be an influx of tourists into Brisbane," he said. "It will be great to have a hop-on, hop-off tourist bus service operating around our city as soon as possible." Cr Schrinner said he knew the state government was already talking to tourism operators.

"Fundamentally, it requires an operator to stump up with a proposal – and I understand that is happening at the moment – and then the state government can provide some seed funding," he said. "Brisbane Marketing may also be able to provide some seed funding to get the idea going. Historic Newstead House was suggested as a possible hop-on, hop-off tourism bus stop. "Ultimately, like any business, it has to stack up financially. The business has to make the assessment themselves, but I think any assessment on the tourism prospects of Brisbane has to be a positive one." Cr Schrinner said Brisbane City Council would not run a tourist bus from its regular bus fleet.

Labor's lord mayoral candidate, Patrick Condren, also thought the idea could work, saying: "Anything that makes Brisbane an attraction for tourists I think is a terrific idea. "These are exciting times for Brisbane, big things are happening. "Instead of wasting $1 million a month on ads selling Brisbane to Brisbane, Schrinner should invest in our tourism industry. That’s where the jobs are." On Wednesday, readers suggested several other sites that weren't included in a published sample route that a private operator could take. Those ideas included historic Newstead House at Breakfast Creek, which is Brisbane's oldest remaining residence, built in 1846 for Scottish settler Patrick Leslie.

Other ideas included the nearby "Brekky Creek" Hotel, the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, Roma Street Parklands, and Queensland's Gallery of Modern Art.