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SUNSEEKER TOURS

At sunseekers, we seek to provide you with the tour you’d give guests visiting your own city..

SUNSEEKER TOURS provides full day (8 hrs.) sightseeing tour to Downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the Beaches. Your tour will include the famous Hollywood Sign, Walk of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theater and Sunset Strip, Lunch at Mel’s Diner (not included), Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica, and Venice Beach and more. We'll also stop at many points along the way for free time, shopping and lunch. Sunseeker Tours picks up directly from all hotels in Long Beach and Cruise Terminals daily. We also offer transportation for small or large groups, airport drop off, field trips, travel from your hotel to a restaurant or Corporate head office. Our state-of-the-art coaches accommodate 27, 36, 47 and 56 passengers or 14 and 20 passengers for smaller groups.

• (877) 416-5460

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Home to a perfect blend of wonderful and welcome communities.

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Whether you’re visiting Long Beach, California for business, fun or both, you’ll always find something unconventional to do.

Events in Long Beach

Special events in Long Beach invite visitors to experience a variety of festivals, sporting events, concerts, and celebrations throughout the year.

Don’t you wish you could go where everybody knows your name? Here are some of the recurring events and activities happening around Long Beach where you can meet new people

Longing for a poolside daiquiri in a private cabana? Need a few hours of lounging in the sun followed by a quick swim or soak in a hot tub? Who

Not only does Long Beach offer a lot of great places to eat near the sand, but also an exceptional collection of eateries on the sand. These aren’t the usual

The Long Beach waterfront will host spectacular fireworks events for Independence Day, including a free show at the Downtown waterfront on July 4. BOOM!

Sushi is not only one of the most popular cuisines but also one of the most flexible; Long Beach is proof of that. The city offers all manner of traditional

Mayors from across the country will come to Long Beach for discussions of policy solutions to challenges facing cities, and priorities for advocacy at the federal level.

Golf is a wonderful/horrible game, equally exhilarating and maddening, that nonetheless keeps us always coming back for more. And Long Beach offers you so many more ways to play it

Belmont Shore’s Second Street is a well-loved stretch of boutiques, restaurants, and small businesses worthy of window shopping, and several are tucked around corners on side streets. As you enjoy

There’s a lot to do and see, eat and drink, and experiences and memories to make in Long Beach. So much so, that you might not know where to start

Free and open to the public, the 2024 “off the walls” edition will display works from 25 artists from five countries in murals and installations throughout the city, as well

Whether you’re visiting Long Beach for business or pleasure, you don’t have to drop your workout routine. With several gyms within walking distance of the downtown core–many offering complimentary day

The beach is alive with the sound of music all summer long, as a near-unending stream of free outdoor concert series take place throughout Long Beach. These neighborhood events occur

Celebrate the fathers in your life with a special meal or outing this Father’s Day (Sunday, June 16–don’t forget!). Whether Dad enjoys getting out on the water, going out to

Murals and public art give a city character, injecting colorful elements of human expression into urban spaces and contributing to a shared cultural iconography. Several movements and organizations have created

Sunseeker Tours

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Long Beach, CA 90802

Serving Long Beach Area

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See Hollywood, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Sunset Strip, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and much more! Ride in our comfortable 15-passenger Mercedes Benz mini-buses as our expert guides show you the sights you've always seen on television and in films, and read about in newspapers and magazines. Want to see a star? While we can't guarantee that you'll actually meet one, we'll show you where they play and work. You'll see many famous locations for movies and television shows, landmarks that are well known worldwide, and points of interest that will delight you and complete the sentence, "Only in L.A...." Half day tours are also available for parties of four or more. We pick up at all hotels in Long Beach, San Pedro, and LAX as well as the passenger cruise terminals in Los Angeles (San Pedro) and Long Beach. Arrangements can be made in advance for passengers to be dropped at LAX for evening flights. …

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Tour date was 4/2/2024, this company will not acknowledge any wrong doing-they blame the client for all their shortcomings. Didn't expect perfect, but this was beyond horrible. Tour was not a full 8 hours, was just a little over 6. The Griffith Park Observatory was skipped. Rodeo Dr. was skipped. Santa Monica Pier was skipped. Guide, Gabriel, did not make it clear that we would not be visiting the Hollywood sign prior to stopping at the Walk of Fame. Guide was very distasteful in what was said, for example, speaking about going to strip clubs, repeatedly. Guide provided no information on the history of Los Angeles. Multiple people on the tour questioned the guide about skipping stops, the guide either ignored us or gave false information, for example, said the bus was not allowed on Rodeo Dr., however the other tour bus from that day did go onto Rodeo Dr. Website states you will be transported in a 14 passenger Mercedes Benz bus, we were on a large motor coach. Guide kept saying prior to the first stop that he had to "pee" and he will push everyone out of the way to get to the bathroom first. Extremely uncomfortable with this, very poor language over the entire day. At one point guide wanted driver to turn onto a residential street, the driver explained the coach was to large to be on residential streets, a while later, the guide instructed the driver to turn onto a street, stating he would be ok, only to find ourselves on a residential street! The guide knew that the driver stated the coach could not be on residential streets, but put us all in danger by having him travel onto a residential street anyway. The guide was clearly just in a hurry to make a few stops and get us back to port as quickly as possible, assumingly so he could get back to the strip club and eat chicken wings as he repeatedly stated throughout the morning. The entire tour was very uncomfortable and ruined by the guide, missed stops, and cut short.

Good tour guides, very knowledgeable and fun. I recommend in if you're new to the area.

Visited my extended family in LBC from Boston (pre-COVID obviously) and was so excited for a lame but relaxing tour. The tour was far from enjoyable (bad pick up, bad communication, asked for CC over the phone but had to pay again later (?!), reservations were difficult and rescheduled.) When I (politely) complained to the owner, he was shady and dodgy AF. He really didn't seem to care about the experience of his customers since we had already paid. There are MANY other options in the area, AVOID THIS TOUR.

We came to LBC for the long holiday weekend and wanted to see and do as much as possible in the short time we were there. Our Sunseeker Tour with Alberto on 8/31 was the best bang for our buck we could have gotten. Nine full hours and we hit all the quintessential LA hot spots. We had plenty of time at Venice Beach, the Walk of Fame, and Mel's Diner, and the other notable sights along the way were good to look at, but we didn't feel jipped by not stopping. Alberto was warm and funny and very knowledgeable. And that he picked us up right at our hotel so we didn't have to drive ourselves or worry about Lyft or Uber was fantastic. I will recommend to everyone!

We had a wonderful time with sunseeker Tours. The vehicle was very comfortable. Enough time see all Hollywood and Los Angeles. They are amazing in here and have such a wealth of information for your travels along with assistance if you are gong to drive down or even live in Los Angeles.

We did the tour on 4/11/18. We had a blast checking out the area. Our driver/guide was extremely knowledgeable of the area and made the day very fun and interesting. I'd recommend this tour to any one.

I booked a tour for three of my family members through Sunseeker Tours and would give the company a 1.5 star for misleading advertising practices, and 4.5 stars for the actual tour, which averages out to 3 stars. Let me explain - I purchased a Groupon for Sunseeker Tours, and planned a trip for my family to come visit LA for a few days - I figured we'd stay in Long Beach as its fairly close to Disneyland (Anaheim) and where I needed to be for work at my client. My family wanted to go on a tour of LA / Hollywood, and in my research I stumbled across a Groupon for Sunseeker Tours, which is based out of LB - perfect! I purchased the Groupon, booked our hotel in LB, and a few days before they had wanted to go on the tour, gave the company a call. The person (owner ?) who answered let me know that he (1) doesn't book people with Groupons on the tour until the day before the tour if and ONLY IF there's extra space available that he can't fill with the full-price $100 tickets and (2) that it's high season and SUPER BUSY he's basically always sold out and can rarely honor Groupons. It sounded fishy to me since it was the middle of February, not summertime or near major holidays but whatever. I called him several times to determine availability (which he always responded that they were packed) and finally, he said that he could squeeze in 3 of my family members two days later, but would only be able to honor 2 of the 3 Groupons I purchased and I had to pay $100 - the full price for the last ticket. I was fine with that, since we really had no options then and I didn't want to drop them off in Hollywood for the other tour companies. I then had to go through the hassle of contacting Groupon for a refund of the last ticket. So here's the crazy part - when my family actually went on the tour - they were the only ones! Yep - not another soul on their mini-tour bus. According to the driver, this was the low season and they didn't have any other tourists booking trips for that day. After this experience, I felt like this company only uses Groupon for free advertising and will say that the users need to buy full-price tickets no matter how full or empty the tour is. I understand the need for small businesses to generate revenue (especially during low season) but being misleading should not be the approach. For people who plan their trips around staying in Long Beach and paying the Groupon rate for this tour, its frustrating that they give you such a hard time to honor the Groupon. None of the other tours have this requirement. With that said, from what my family told me, the driver John was wonderful. He took them to the places listed on the website (but they were not able to enter Griffith Observatory due to an event being there), provided a lot of fun and interesting information and was generally all-around very attentive. If you read their TripAdvisor reviews like I did, you'll see that the guides are generally very good. My recommendation is just to proceed with caution if you want to get the Groupon Deal ($60 instead of $100) and have to deal with the headache of going back and forth with the owner on whether he'll honor the Groupon.

Highly disappointed!!! Have a backup plan for your day if you wish to go with the Sunseekers as they might just not pick you up for the tour with a stupid and irresponsible excuse of saying that the driver "Alberto" i guess.. forgot to pickup you guys up..and has already left the long beach area...and started the LA city tour.......owning no responsibility whatsoever for their carelessness...Our day was totally wasted if we dint had the one day disney park tickets to make up for the day... Inspite of booking the tour 2 days well in advance and giving a reminder call to this guy a night before...they failed to pick us up...we even asked him for alternate dates available...but he blandly refused it too saying there was no place available.... Very unprofessional behaviour displayed by these guys,... I wouldnt recommed it...!

I have never been on these tours but would NOT want to either. My review is of one of thier drivers that was driving the van with the last 3 of the license plate being 281. Today, October 2, 2014 between 1:45pm and 1:55pm I was driving westbound on Sunset Boulevard when your driver pulled out of the parking lot at Mel's Diner on Sunset without even stopping or looking causing me to have to pull into the other lane of traffic and almost causing me to wreck. I had 3 passengers in my car and they were all very frightened as 2 would have been injured very badly with how fast thier driver was pulling out into traffic without looking to see if it was clear. This could have also injured the passengers that are on the van as well.

I was so excited to take the Sunseekers Tour but ended up slightly disappointed. We went to every place that the website stated and were given enough time to look around each location. I'm not sure if I simply wasn't impressed with LA and Hollywood or if my expectations of the tour were higher than they should have been. Some things to know. Pick up - they tell you what time they are picking you up but may not actually be there right away. They have to pick up everyone else so may be about 15 minutes late. It took about half an hour to pick up 4 more people and didn't get started until about 9 am. Drop off - the driver was willing to drop us off at any location in Long Beach, so you may want to get out with the first drop off so you're not stuck on the van going to each hotel and having to wait for people to pay. Locations - there didn't seem to be a lot of things to do at most of the stops other than to walk around for a little bit Time - the driver did ask if anyone had to get back by a certain time and when everyone said no, he extended the tour about an hour which was nice Paying - when I called to set up the reservation, I was asked for my credit card number, expiration date and security code. I assumed that I had paid at that time but apparently I did not. You pay when you leave and at no point did I see anywhere that if you pay with card it is an additional 5% service fee. You only avoid this fee if you pay with cash. Tip - for some reason it never occurred to me to tip but when I got in the van there was a sign in the van that said it is customary to tip 15%. You also cannot add this to your credit card because the owner doesn't want to pay it out to the tour guide.

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Soaring Temperatures and Profit Seekers Amplify Dangers on the Hajj

“The halls felt like they were on fire,” one Jordanian woman said of her accommodations after she opted to take a cheaper travel package for “unregistered” pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

Muslims performing the Eid al-Adha morning prayer around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on June 16, marking the end of the hajj pilgrimage. Credit... Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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By Rana F. Sweis ,  Emad Mekay and Lynsey Chutel

Rana F. Sweis reported from Jordan, Emad Mekay from Egypt and Lynsey Chutel from South Africa.

• July 8, 2024

Huda Omari sat outside a broker’s office in Jordan for two days, waiting for her visa to make the annual hajj, or pilgrimage, to Saudi Arabia.

In Egypt, Magda Moussa’s three sons pooled their resources to scrape together nearly $9,000 to realize a dream of accompanying their mother to the hajj. When she got the go-ahead for the trip, she said, relatives and neighbors in her village ululated in celebration.

The dayslong pilgrimage is a profound spiritual journey and an arduous trek under the best of circumstances. ​But this year, amid record ​h​eat, at least 1,300 pilgrims did not survive the hajj, and Saudi authorities said that more than 80 percent of the dead were pilgrims who lacked permits .

Ms. Omari and Ms. Moussa were among a large number of unregistered pilgrims relying on illicit or fraudulent tour operators to skirt the official permit process.​ Both said they were aware that the once-in-a-lifetime trip would be physically and financially demanding, but neither foresaw the terrible heat or mistreatment they would endure.

“We were humiliated and punished for being there illegally,” Ms. Omari, 51, told The New York Times after returning home.

With nearly two million people participating each year, it is not unusual for pilgrims to die from heat stress, illness or chronic disease during the hajj. And it is unclear whether this year’s toll was higher than usual because Saudi Arabia does not regularly report the numbers. Last year, 774 pilgrims died from Indonesia alone, and in 1985 more than 1,700 people died around the holy sites, most of them from heat stress, a study at the time found .

But this year’s deaths drew attention to the disturbing underbelly of an industry that profits from pilgrims who often spend years saving to complete one of Islam’s most important rites.

To control the influx of visitors and avoid tragedies like the 2015 stampede , the Saudi government has sought to register pilgrims. Those who are registered must buy a government-sanctioned travel package that has become too expensive for many.

Those who enter on other types of visitors’ visas have difficulty accessing the safety measures put in place by the authorities. So pilgrims’ financial means determined the conditions and treatment they experienced, including their protection from — or exposure to — the Gulf’s increasingly dangerous and extreme heat.

Registered pilgrims stay in hotels in the holy city of Mecca or in Mina, a city of white tents that can house up to three million and which offers showers, kitchens and air-conditioning. They are also transported between holy sites, sparing them from the hot sun.

SAUDI ARABIA

The unregistered in Mecca found themselves stuffed in bare apartments in a southern district that has become popular with the travel brokers who cater to them, according to some of those who went. During the months surrounding the rite, these brokers rent out entire buildings and pack them with pilgrims.

Still, many are undeterred. And as pilgrims return to their home countries, a clearer picture is emerging of the conditions they endured.

Working with the Saudi authorities, Jordan has limited the number of people allowed to participate in the hajj annually. And the Jordanian authorities said last week they had arrested 54 people and shuttered three travel agencies after 99 Jordanians died during the hajj.

Ms. Omari lives in Irbid, Jordan’s second largest city, where she said she sells spices to make extra money. She scraped together 140 Jordanian dinar, nearly $200, for a visa that allows Muslims to visit Saudi holy sites but excludes them from the hajj.

In all, Ms. Omari paid 2,000 dinars (more than $2,800) for a package that included travel, insurance and accommodations. Though it was “no small amount,” she said, it was still just half of the cost of the official hajj package.

Egypt, where rising inflation and a weakened currency have put the pilgrimage out of reach for many, may have had one of the highest number of fatalities this year, but the authorities there have not confirmed the toll. Egyptian officials have recently closed 16 tour operators, and arrested and charged two travel brokers.

Magda Moussa’s three sons had long dreamed of taking her to the hajj, and this was the year that dream would be realized. It would cost them 120,000 Egyptian pounds (nearly $2,500) for her trip alone, and they would accompany her at 100,000 Egyptian pounds each. Still, the cost was substantially less than the official package.

When Ms. Moussa, a widowed grandmother who used to work as a telecoms technician, received her visa, her family and neighbors in the village of Bahadah, near the capital Cairo, celebrated her good fortune.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, dating back centuries to when pilgrims first walked in the footsteps of the prophets. All Muslims who are physically and financially able are obliged to perform it at least once.

Today, there are tiered visitors’ packages for the registered and a widening gap between those who can afford these packages and the unregistered who cannot.

When Ms. Omari arrived, she said, she was assigned a room in a building where the air-conditioning barely worked.

“The halls felt like they were on fire,” she said.

So she shelled out more money for a decent hotel, where she shared a room with women from her hometown.

Ms. Moussa was luckier: Her sons paid hundreds of dollars for her to have a bed in a hotel room with three other women, while the sons spent more than $200 to sleep on a mattress on the floor in another building, in a room crowded with eight men.

Saudi officials removed at least 300,000 unregistered pilgrims from Mecca even before the hajj began, sending many of those without proper documentation to the port city of Jeddah, more than 40 miles away, according to Saudi state media. Others were deported.

As the hajj drew closer, police raids intensified, witnesses said.

“We are pilgrims. We are Muslims,” said Ms. Omari. “We are not here to cause problems.”

Panicking brokers fearing arrest cut off electricity or disconnected internet service in some buildings to make them appear unoccupied, witnesses said. Some even chained the gates to the buildings to keep pilgrims in and the police out.

“Often we felt imprisoned,” said Ahmed Mamdouh Massoud, one of Ms. Moussa’s sons. He had traveled as an unregistered pilgrim before, he said. But this year, he felt very unwelcome.

“I never saw anything as bad as this time,” he said, describing the heavy police presence, dozens of check points and random checks.

Ms. Moussa said her family had lived off canned food that they brought from Egypt during the hajj and, out of fear, ventured outside only to buy yogurt and dates in Mecca.

Ms. Omari, who arrived nearly a month before the hajj began in mid-June, remained holed up in the room she shared with four other women, leaving only to perform religious rites.

“We know we only go once in our lifetime, and this was it,” she said.

On the eve of the Day of Arafat — the day when pilgrims gather near Mount Arafat as one of the hajj rituals — no car or bus would pick her up because she did not have the right permit, Ms. Omari said. So she walked 12 miles to reach the plain of Arafat under a scorching sun with choking humidity. Temperatures surpassed 120 degrees during the hajj period.

“It was like fire from the sky and under your feet,” she said.

Ms. Moussa said she had tried to board a bus, but a Saudi police officer demanded hajj permits from her and the women she was with. The officer threatened to end their pilgrimage, so close to its zenith, if they could not produce permits.

“After all those years wishing for this day, now they want to prevent us?” she said.

Ms. Moussa, stung by the treatment, said she quietly exited the bus through the back door. She bundled her belongings and balanced them on her head, and then began walking. Stopping only to pray or ask for directions, she walked through the night.

“I had plastic slippers on,” she said. “By the time I arrived, they had gotten so worn-out, they felt as if I was wearing nothing on my feet.”

As she walked, she said, pilgrims in air-conditioned buses gawked at her as she limped along the path. Someone took a video of her that went viral in Egypt.

The two women’s families reached the plain of Arafat, but the walk back exposed the tragedy of the situation.

“Younger people than me were lying dead,” Ms. Moussa said. “It was heartbreaking.”

Lynsey Chutel covers South Africa and the countries that make up southern Africa from Johannesburg. More about Lynsey Chutel

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Politics latest: Starmer jets off for first NATO summit - and in 'stronger position' than many allies

Sir Keir Starmer is on his way to his first NATO summit as prime minister, hosted in Washington DC. It comes after he sat opposite Rishi Sunak in the first sitting of the new parliament since last week's general election.

Tuesday 9 July 2024 22:55, UK

• General Election 2024

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• PM jets off for NATO summit
• Mark Stone analysis: Starmer in much stronger position than allies
• Health secretary 'optimistic' after junior doctor talks
• Committee key to Tory leadership race elects new chair
• Tory mayor attacks 'cack-handed' Braverman after Pride comments
• Highlights from parliament's return: Starmer speaks in Commons for first time as PM | Sunak vows 'effective' opposition | Farage makes debut with dig over Brexit | Commons Speaker re-elected
• Sam Coates analysis: A spirit of unity - but still moments of politics
• Live reporting by Faith Ridler

Thanks for joining us for a very busy day for the new Labour government - and there's plenty more to come this week.

You can scroll through the page for today's updates, or check our 10pm post for a round-up of Tuesday's most significant news.

We'll be back at 6am with all the latest from Westminster.

The chancellor has revealed plans for a new national wealth fund designed to attract billions in private sector investment.

The new Labour government said it has allocated £7.3bn in additional state funding to support the plan.

The proposals include reforms to the state-owned British Business Bank.

Rachel Reeves met with a nine-strong National Wealth Fund Taskforce at Number 11 Downing Street in order to launch the plans.

The taskforce includes former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, Barclays chief executive officer CS Venkatakrishnan and Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc.

'Further, faster'

Ms Reeves said the funding will be used to target green and high-growth British industries, stressing there is "no time to waste".

The chancellor added: "We need to go further and faster if we are to fix the foundations of our economy to rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off."

It's the end of the day - which means it's time for a round-up of the main things you need to know from the Politics Hub.

• Sir Keir Starmer is en route to Washington DC as you read this for his first NATO summit, where he'll meet world leaders including Joe Biden;
• Our US correspondent Mark Stoke says he goes on the trip in a "much stronger position" than many of his allies, given his massive election win - we'll have live updates and analysis from the trip starting tomorrow.
• Back in the UK, parliament has returned and the Speaker re-elected, with the cabinet and shadow cabinet having been sworn in;
• Sir Keir Starmer  welcomed the diversity of the new parliament in his first Commons speech as PM, while  Rishi Sunak  vowed the Tories would be an "effective and professional" opposition;
• The return of parliament allowed the Tories to elect the chair of their backbench 1922 Committee , which runs the party's leadership contests;
• But our political correspondent Darren McCaffrey is getting the sense from Conservatives that the contest may not happen for several months, as the battle for the soul of the party commences.
• Elsewhere, Health Secretary Wes Streeting says he's "optimistic" after his first meeting with representatives of junior doctors, as he seeks an end to the pay dispute that has caused industrial action;
• Our political correspondent Tamara Cohen said there may only be "a matter of weeks" to find an agreement before the BMA union holds a vote on holding more strikes.

That's it for our final bulletin of the day - stay with us for more news and analysis through the evening.

A former army chief has warned members of NATO the world is facing "as dangerous a moment as any time that we've had since 1945" as he called on members to invest more into their arms.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, who served as chief of the general staff until last month, told The Times that Russia, China and Iran were the "new axis powers", and a third world war could break out within the next five years if action was not taken.

Arguing the countries posed even more of a threat than the Nazis in 1939, he said: "They are more interdependent and more aligned than the original axis powers were."

But the military expert said the conflict was not a foregone conclusion if NATO members, including the UK, significantly improved their arms.

You can read more from Sky News:

The UK's newest MPs might have spent the last six weeks fighting for a place in parliament - but it can still be a shock to the system once they enter it, according to those familiar with the process.

That's why House of Commons staff have spent months preparing for their arrival, working on everything from buddy schemes to starter packs and photobooks to help them get to grips with the job.

This secret team of helpers is not messing about. In fact, the first contact parliament has with newly elected representatives is at the election count itself.

Read all about how new MPs are prepared for the job here:

After the Conservative Party lost the general election, Rishi Sunak announced he would resign as leader "once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place".

So how could the next leader be selected?

1922 committee

The body that governs Tory party leadership races is their backbench committee of MPs, the 1922 Committee.

Today, Tory MPs elected a new chair - Bob Blackman.

Decisions can now be taken about the timeframe and process of the leadership contest - although it is unclear when that will happen.

Rishi Sunak's role

As it stands, the former PM remains leader of the party and leader of the opposition. He has appointed a shadow cabinet and will fulfil the constitutional requirements of the role - for now.

Mr Sunak could agree to stay as party leader until a permanent successor is selected - in which case he will continue to carry out the opposition leader role, including facing Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.

But he could choose to step down before the contest is concluded, which he seemed to suggest in his resignation speech, which would mean an interim leader would have to be chosen (that would likely fall to Oliver Dowden, who is the interim deputy leader).

Will the party members have a say?

There appears to be broad consensus among Tory MPs that members should get a vote on who the new party leader should be.

Short vs long

Some Tories have proposed the contest should be short, so the new leader can be in place to challenge the Labour government as soon as possible - particularly when they present their first budget in the autumn.

However, a consensus appears to be emerging that a long leadership contest is the right thing to do to ensure there is full debate on which direction the party should take.

It could mean that nominations for the new leader don't even open for a number of weeks, and then MPs could whittle down the number of candidates - or not, and members could choose between multiple people.

There have been suggestions that the contest should not conclude until after the party's conference in early October, like when David Cameron won back in 2005.

By Mark Kleinman , City editor

The boss of Hakluyt, the corporate intelligence firm, is being lined up for a top business role in Sir Keir Starmer's fledgling Labour administration.

Sky News has learnt that Varun Chandra, who has been Hakluyt's managing partner since 2019, is in advanced talks to join the government.

Sources said on Tuesday that he was likely to take on a senior business liaison role in 10 Downing Street - a role occupied by Lord Petitgas, the former Morgan Stanley banker, in Rishi Sunak's administration.

Like Lord Petitgas, Mr Chandra is an ex-Lehman Brothers banker who went on to establish the regulated business operations of Tony Blair, the former prime minister.

You can read more from Sky News here:

The UK is in a relatively unusual position as Sir Keir Starmer jets off for his first NATO summit as prime minister.

Given the struggles of Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, and some other Western leaders, our  US correspondent  Mark Stone   says the prime minister comes to Washington DC looking relatively strong given his enormous election win.

"Politically he is in a much stronger position than many colleagues he will meet," says Mark, who'll be at the summit.

Sir Keir will be among the leaders of the 31 other NATO members for a summit being described "as the biggest event of its kind for three decades" given the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Mark says that sometimes in politics "timing is luck" - "and it's certainly luck for Starmer that so soon after he took office, he is in Washington".

He'll also meet Joe Biden at the White House while he's in town.

That concludes our coverage of tonight's Politics Hub programme - it will be back again from 7pm tomorrow. Stay with us here for more news and analysis through the evening.

Our political correspondent Darren McCaffrey is outside The Spectator's depressingly rainy summer party in London - and it doesn't get more "establishment" than this, he says.

Plenty of senior Tories are there, and so is Nigel Farage.

Darren notes that although the new chairman of the 1922 Committee was confirmed as Bob Blackman tonight - the timing of a Tory leadership contest remains unclear.

"The conversation is not tonight about who should take over the Conservative Party, it's much more about this process," Darren says.

"Whether this leadership contest needs to be sorted as soon as possible - ahead of the party conference - or whether the Conservative Party should do what they decided back in 2005."

That was a really long campaign, one which ended with David Cameron taking the reins.

Darren says the consensus at the party seems to be the Conservatives need to have a think - and they need a long time, certainly until the summer has been and gone.

It means Rishi Sunak could still be leader for months to come.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook is now asked about  Labour's decision to take "Levelling Up" out of his department's name.

It is now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Boris Johnson didn't take well to this decision, accusing the new government of a lack of ambition.

Mr Pennycook says this is "nonsense", adding: "I'd expect nothing less from the former prime minister."

He said the way the Tory government had approached levelling up was a "gimmick", with communities "held back" and "forced to bid" for "small pots of money" from Whitehall.

"We are taking a whole government approach to regional inequality," says the minister.

"It's got to run through everything we do, so the ambition remains the problem, if you like. The diagnosis was right. 

"We want to get back to basics."

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Things To Do | Shark Week: Encounter sharks (without the bite)…

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Subscriber only, things to do | shark week: encounter sharks (without the bite) in central florida.

Now in the 36th year of programming, Discovery offers prime-time shows that educate audiences about great white sharks, hammerhead sharks, “alien sharks” in Japan and more. Host John Cena guides viewers through 21 hours of new programming.

In Central Florida, there are a number of ways to experience the marine predators up close, whether it’s visiting an aquarium, enjoying sharky specials or even swimming with sharks. Here are some suggestions.

Aquarium encounters

Orlando’s status as a theme park destination means there are several City Beautiful venues for experiencing sharks in an aquarium setting.

At SeaWorld Orlando , travel through an underwater viewing tunnel to catch unique angles of sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks, hammerhead sharks and more. Upgrade to the add-on “Sharks Up-Close Tour” to touch a small shark, feed several species of sharks and learn more about the creatures.

The Seas with Nemo & Friends , located at Disney World’s Epcot, contains a 5.7 million-gallon shark and ray habitat with sandbar sharks, a blacknose shark and more. In addition, guests can visit Bruce’s Shark World, a walk-through exhibit within the attraction.

Icon Park’s Sea Life Orlando Aquarium offers the chance to view bonnethead sharks, a zebra shark, bamboo sharks, an epaulette shark and coral catsharks.

On Florida’s Gulf Coast, find sharks at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa and one nurse shark at Clearwater Marine Aquarium .

Swimming with sharks

While some of Florida’s aquariums offer the rare chance to see sharks up close, others take it a step further and allow visitors to share the water with the marine predators.

At Discovery Cove , a $79 upgrade allows guests to participate in a shark snorkel with more than 20 blacktip reef, nurse, zebra, whitetip reef and bonnethead sharks. The experience is limited to 24 guests per day. A $169 shark interaction upgrade provides a shark feeding and training experience with just 16 slots per day. The park also offers SeaVenture , an underwater walking tour where guests wear a dive helmet for an under-the-sea experience — listed starting at $109 per person but currently offered with a 30-percent discount.

Florida Shark Diving in Jupiter provides diving charters and shark viewing trips for thrill-seekers looking to venture out into the ocean. Similar excursions are available through Shark Tours Florida in Riviera Beach, Shark Addicts in Jupiter, Calypso Dive Charters in Riviera Beach and Keys Shark Diving in Marathon.

Theater of the Sea in Islamorada offers a unique encounter with nurse sharks, offering guests the chance to feed, pet and hold the sea creatures in a saltwater lagoon for $125 per person.

Shark specials

More than just a series on TV, Shark Week has become a cultural phenomenon that extends far beyond the Discovery Channel. Businesses and brands now pull together sharky specials to pile onto the trend.

At SeaWorld Orlando , the “Ultimate Shark Experience” ticket (on sale through July 14) includes a shark encounter experience, the chance to feed and touch sharks, a meeting with Sydney the Shark, a one-time quick queue at Mako, souvenirs and a shark-inspired meal and beverage combo. There are some seafood options, but shark is not on the menu.

Find me  @PConnPie on Instagram  or send me an email:  [email protected] .

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