6 EU BUSINESS NEWS / European Travel Awards 2022 , From the bus coordination, limousine service, and passenger transport to the transport of employees, AGT Bus- & Eventlogistik GmbH specialises in the requirements of business customers across the globe. We find out more about the firm, its unique journey, and its long family history from CEO, Heike Januzi-Schlatermund, in the wake of the company being recognised in the European Travel Awards 2022. AGT Bus- & Eventlogistik GmbH (AGT) is an international service provider in the field of passenger transportation and event logistics. Consisting of a 70-strong team of professionals and experts in bus mobility, AGT’s focus is predominantly within the business-to-business sector where the firm implements individual mobility concepts for companies that want to equip their events with shuttles. In addition to business customers, the company also provides buses and shuttles to schools, day care centres and nurseries, and clubs. With more than 1,500 bus partners in Germany and Europe, the company has a large fleet of vehicles in most regions and can cater to all eventualities, regardless of the size or duration of an event. Although the current company was only formed in 2004, the business itself has a long history dating back almost 100 years which has been shaped and written by four generations of the same family. It was in 1929 that Bruno Thies established the original company and was able to transport more than 200 people, first with taxis and then with the self-made two “flying silver arrows.” The first bus tourism company in northern Germany was born and soon developed into the largest employer in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. Bruno and the company experienced difficult times during World War II with the associated requisitioning of his vehicles however this did not prevent him from rebuilding the company after the end of the war. Buses with passenger trailers were extremely popular and the company's wide range of products served people's reawakened desire to travel Jul22440 in the best possible way. Butter trips, day and multi-day trips throughout Germany and long-distance trips to Italy, France and Spain rounded off the programme. In just a short time, one of the largest bus tourism companies in northern Germany was established with a fleet of more than 30 buses and many employees to boot. In 1981, Rainbow Tours was born. Blessed with his grandfather’s wealth of innovative ideas, André Schlatermund, himself only in his early twenties, had the brilliant idea of winning over and inspiring young people for bus tourism. Together with two friends, he invented short trips taking visitors overnight to major cities in Europe, where they were free to explore the city during the day and return home in the evening, and all this for an unbeatably low price! Rainbow Tours quickly became the seventh largest tour operator in Germany and the market leader for youth and city trips, as well as summer camps. Round trips, ski trips, entertainment trips, and even long-distance trips were also part of André’s unique offer. When Bruno died in 1982 his daughter, Waltraut Schlatermund-Thies, took over the business and successfully continued it as a trained tourism expert, selling it only due to her retirement in 2003 following 20 years of successful operation. And in 2004, André set up AGT Busvermietung & Touristik GmbH and a new chapter in the history begins with bus trips and passenger transport of all kinds, as well as a wide range of event management services. Right at the beginning of AGT, Best Bus & Event Logistics Company – Hamburg
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