London-based Big Bus makes push into LA tour service

LOS ANGELES - Starline Tours is one of the biggest players in a city where tourists spend billions of dollars a year to gawk at the Hollywood sign, take selfies on Hollywood Boulevard and buy overpriced souvenirs.

But the 50-year-old company that was born in the shadow of Grauman's Chinese Theatre is facing a new, out-of-town rival to challenge Starline's dominance in the Los Angeles tourism scene.

London-based Big Bus, which operates in 22 cities