Inside Dreamliner’s Big Bet to Become the Tour Bus Industry’s Market Leader  

When the pandemic unopen down unrecorded music, galore touring autobus operators parked vehicles indefinitely, deferred attraction oregon sold units into the RV market. But Dreamliner took a antithetic tack. Even successful 2020, portion tours were grounded, the institution took a accidental by committing to caller builds. 

“We fundamentally started receiving and gathering caller [bus] shells from the aboriginal days” of the pandemic, recalls Dreamliner CEO Richard Thomson, who started the institution successful 2019. He notes that the touring autobus “industry already had a supply-demand imbalance” and that the pandemic made it “exponentially worse,” arsenic buses came disconnected the roadworthy and autobus operators began selling disconnected their fleets to assistance wage the bills. 
“Fortunately, we were gathering portion nary 1 other was,” helium says 

The stake paid off. When touring roared backmost successful 2022 and 2023, Dreamliner emerged with a modern, expanding fleet. In precocious 2023, the institution acquired Hemphill Brothers, the Nashville stalwart agelong synonymous with A-list coaches, adding astir 130 vehicles to its 60-unit operation. Overnight, Dreamliner became the marketplace leader. Through assertive acquisitions and dependable fleet investments, it is present the largest touring autobus relation successful the United States, going from a tiny California subordinate to a marketplace elephantine with a fleet of 215 circuit buses successful little than a decade. 

In the unrecorded euphony economy, circuit buses person go indispensable forms of proscription for thousands of touring artists who question hundreds of miles betwixt venues each night. These buses — rolling hotels and headliner suites — are the lifeblood of touring, carrying artists, bands, and crews from 1 metropolis to the adjacent agelong aft the encore has ended.  

Now Dreamliner is looking to grow into the user market, hoping to motorboat a play concern for its buses aimed astatine assemblage sports fans, bachelor parties and high-end household trips.  Thomson sees an untapped user marketplace for short-term rentals — deliberation play shot games, firm retreats, nationalist parkland trips, adjacent bachelorette parties. 

“With 200 buses, determination are ever going to beryllium gaps” erstwhile vehicles are conscionable sitting successful the lot, Thomson explains. Tapping into the user marketplace tin assistance them maximize each vehicle’s potential. “If idiosyncratic wants to spell to an SEC crippled with their buddies, tailgate connected the mode there, and beryllium backmost successful their ain furniture the adjacent day, that’s possible. You get entree to a multimillion-dollar conveyance with a nonrecreational driver. It’s similar being successful the Four Seasons connected wheels.” 

The exemplary isn’t cheap, costing $5,000 to $10,000 for a weekend, depending connected mileage and operator hours. But divided among 10 friends, it’s comparable to a luxury getaway. Booking presently happens via Dreamliner’s website, with unit coordinating drivers, logistics and parking. As consciousness grows, Thomson believes user rentals could assistance offset seasonality during slower touring months similar November done February. 

Dreamliner’s trajectory underscores however overmuch the autobus manufacture has changed successful conscionable a fewer years. Once dominated by founder-owned determination companies — Hemphill Brothers, Diamond Coach, Night Train — the assemblage present has a wide consolidator successful Thomson, a erstwhile financier who entered the marketplace successful 2019 and rapidly stake big. 

That professionalization has ripple effects. With a fleet of much than 200 coaches, Dreamliner operates astatine a standard that requires 24-hour on-call support, hundreds of employees and changeless reinvestment. “We’re not conscionable immoderate autobus institution anymore,” Thomson says. “We’re gathering existent infrastructure to enactment unrecorded amusement astatine each level”. 

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