About us
1907-1928
The Start of an Austrian Success Story
Paul Blagusz
Paul Blagusz was born on 13 January 1907 in Unterpullendorf, then western Hungary, later Austria's easternmost province of Burgenland. He attended Hungarian primary school for two years. When his father died, he moved as a shepherd boy to the area in south-eastern Lower Austria called the Bucklige Welt, where he proceeded to learn German.
From the age of 11, he worked on a farm in Pöttsching and began to sell Hungarian products at the market in Wiener Neustadt. In June 1926 Paul obtained his own permit to "trade in eggs, butter, poultry, game, fruit and mushrooms".
He transported goods of all kinds by train to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest open-air market. It was a tiresome and difficult task. That same year he managed to purchase a Perl lorry. As other tradesmen wanted to travel with him he began to arrange regular transports to Vienna.
1929-1938
The Challenging Early Years
On 19 April 1929 Paul Blagusz obtained a license to run a contract haulage business and had soon switched from trader to transport entrepreneur.
Burgenland was awarded to Austria in the Peace Treaty of St. Germaine in 1919. By the late twenties people slowly became accustomed to thinking of it as an Austrian province. Many people from Burgenland were frustrated by the lack of work in their frontier region and emigrated. Paul Blaguss and his brother Stefan remained, however, and built up the company together. They transported people, animals, furniture and goods with two lorries. The trips were often adventurous and long. For example, the drive from Oberpullendorf to Vienna took seven hours.
In 1932 the company fleet consisted of three lorries (a Perl, an Austro Fiat and a Gräf). A Perl L 6, complete with a fixed coach chassis and crank-operated windows, was used for the first excursions. The company survived over the difficult economic times and became an important transportation company for the district of Oberpullendorf.
In July 1935 Blagusz obtained permission to “issue tickets for motor vehicle rides and organize conducted tours with these vehicles.” This was the cornerstone for the travel agency.
1939-1945
The Dark Years of War
In 1939 the German armed forces seized all vehicles. In the following years of war the transportation services stopped.
In 1942 Blagusz managed to get three lorries into a roadworthy condition for urgently needed transports. Russian troops arrived in 1945 and promptly confiscated all vehicles.
1946-1956
Putting full energy into reconstruction
Paul Blagusz believed that regularly scheduled bus services were the wave of the future. He applied for the first license for a regularly scheduled bus service. In 1947 the company had five employees and a fleet of five vehicles.
In October 1950 a license was granted for the Lutzmannsburg – Vienna bus line.
Haulage activities receded into the background as passenger service grew. The busses were modernised with meagre resources.
In 1953, the first tours to Hungary were organised for tourists with the Burgenland Express. In the same year Blagusz received a license to operate the Kloster-marienberg – Oberpullendorf bus service.
In 1956 the company purchased its first new coach straight from the factory, a Steyr – Perl Auhof, and began offering trips to South Tyrol, Yugoslavia and Greece.
1957-1969
Rosier times
The Austrian economy was moving ever farther along the road to recovery and interest in motor coach tours was on the rise. The fleet grew to ten coaches and three lorries.
In January 1965 Blagusz obtained an unrestricted license to operate a travel agency in Oberpullendorf.
1970-1975
Tours à la Blaguss
In May 1970 Blaguss Reisen Gesellschaft m.b.H. was founded, with Paul Blaguss and his children as partners. When Robert Blaguss joined the company, he and his brother Paul took over the management.
Two years later Blaguss obtained a full license to operate a travel agency in Vienna. The company had 54 employees in Vienna and Oberpullendorf and 17 coaches in operation.
On 14 November 1972, company founder Paul Blagusz Senior died in Vienna at the age of 65.
The first Burgenland catalogue with package tours was published in 1973. The company opened its first travel agency along Neusiedlersee, to be followed by four other ones at different towns around this large lake in eastern Austria.
In 1974 Blaguss began its first incoming activities in Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia with a special focus on Vienna. It attended to the needs of the guests of German and international tour operators.
1976-1979
Shaping the future with new ideas
Blaguss Reisen GmbH and the bus division of the Austrian Federal Railways drew up a joint public transport scheme for central Burgenland. The services from Vienna to Oberpullendorf were operated jointly. Passengers benefited in several ways from this joint transportation system: more frequent service, shorter travel times for commuters, introduction of express routes, comfortable and modern busses. In fact this scheme anticipated advantages commuters in other places did not enjoy until after the introduction of regional transportation associations in 1988.
Blaguss has had a substantial stake in Austratrans Kraftfahrlinienbetriebs-gesellschaft m.b.H. since 1976. This company operates an average of eight lines for guest workers to Yugoslavia, all departing from Vienna’s south train station.
Incoming business was going well and the Burgenland was being discovered as an appealing holiday destination. To market these products more efficiently, the province of Burgenland and Blaguss Reisen established Burgenland Tours GmbH in June 1976.
With the subsequent establishment of travel agencies in Eisenstadt and Mattersburg, Blaguss made available modern full-service travel agencies to customers in all the district seats of northern and central Burgenland. Modern and comfortable Mercedes 0 302 and 0 303 coaches were added to the fleet.
On the occasion of its 50th anniversary on 9 November 1979, Blaguss Reisen GmbH was awarded the State Prize of the Republic of Austria and the right to bear the Austrian official coat of arms.
At this point the company had 147 employees and operated 42 buses.
1980-1990
Blaguss expands both - its coach and its travel agency business
The Vienna travel agency UNION ran into economic difficulties in 1980. The following year Blaguss acquired a 50% stake in a successor company and was instrumental in putting this travel agency and tour operator back on solid financial footing.
In 1982 Blaguss made a major investment to build a modern travel agency at Wiedner Hauptstrasse 15 and moved from its previous location in Karlsgasse.
Blaguss began using its first double-decker, a Setra S 228 DT.
City tourism was booming, bringing on a steady rise in demand for travel agency and coach services.
In 1984 Blaguss began operating its first city bus lines, the 47A (Unter St.Veit - Baumgartner Höhe) and the 51A (Hietzing – Ottakringer Bad), under contract to the Vienna public transport authority Wiener Verkehrsbetriebe. The fleet grew steadily.
Blaguss acquired Springer Wien GesmbH from the retiring owner Otto Springer in 1986 and in the years thereafter merged the motor coach division and the two travel agencies with Blaguss Reisen. Instead of just having the one travel agency on Wiedner Hauptstrasse, Blaguss took its first step toward developing a branch network.
In 1987 the company opened a bus centre on a 140,000 square meter parcel of land in Vienna Inzersdorf, complete with garages, service and office buildings.
In the same year Blaguss entered into a joint venture with the largest Hungarian coach company Volan. Blaguss Volanbusz operated a travel agency on the Engel’s’ Square in Budapest (today’s Elisabeth’s Square). It took the lead in bus service on the Vienna-Budapest route.
Blaguss Reisen added new tourist destinations to its catalogue in 1988 and was highly successful with these special programmes for England, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland and Scandinavia, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States.
ICOS (Congress Organisation Service GmbH) was founded in 1990. It is a specialist in organising congresses, incentives and special events. In a matter of years, it has become one of the leading professional congress organisers in Vienna.
In 1990 after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Austratrans Kraftfahrlinienbetriebs-gesellschaft added additional bus routes to destinations in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Poland.
A regular scheduled bus service to Poland was inaugurated. The company put into service the city lines 37A (Dänenstrasse - Engerthstrasse) and 41A (Pötzleinsdorf - Neustifter Friedhof).
1991-1999
From Vienna to Istanbul - Blaguss connecting Europe
In 1991 Blaguss became a member of the Eurolines Organisation, an alliance of 30 independent coach companies forming the largest system of coach lines in Europe. Since the founding of Eurolines Austria, passengers have had their choice of over 500 destinations from Austria.
In the same year, Blaguss took over Kraftfahrlinie Altenmarkt/Triesting – St. Corona/Schöpfl. This was the first line the company had acquired within the Eastern Region Transportation Association (known officially in German as VOR, or Verkehrsverbund Ostregion), which interlocks and organises transportation companies in Vienna, Burgenland and large parts of Lower Austria.
In 1992 Reiseservice der Austria-Hotels sold its incoming division to Blaguss. It has conducted business since then under the name ADM (Austrian Destination Management). The new company specialised in handling and organising incentive travel and special interest groups.
The coach company Mitsch in Loipersbach, Lower Austria, was taken over by Blaguss in 1993. Its fleet had twelve coaches. The company has conducted business since then under the name Neue Mitsch-Bus GmbH.
In 1994, the transportation associations for Lower Austria and Burgenland known as the VVNB began to cover parts of these two provinces not previously covered by VOR (regional buses were integrated in 1988). This process came to end in 1997 with the founding of a transportation association for southern Burgenland known as SBV. Negotiations were conducted with the authorities (federal government and provinces) and between the various transportation companies. Blaguss Reisen GmbH played an instrumental part in them under the leadership of Dr. Robert Blaguss, also president of Schutzverband österreichischer Autobusunternehmungen, the association for the protection of Austrian coach companies.
The company purchased its first low-floor busses from Mercedes und Gräf & Stift.
- The following bus lines went into service:
- 147 Hütteldorf – Hüttelberg, Vienna
- City transportation Marchegg, Lower Austria
- Express transportation St. Pölten (Wiesel Bus)
- Vienna – Berlin
- Vienna – Kiev
- Vienna – Verona – Milan
- Vienna – Frankfurt
In 1997 the company concentrated the business activities of its various tour operators under the Blaguss brand. Office space had to be increased at Wiedner Hauptstrasse 15 to accommodate this step.
In 1998 the company unveiled the Champion’s Liner, the team coach for the SK Rapid soccer club. This coach is one of the most modern in Europe. In the same year, Blaguss acquired a majority stake in Pantours, a successful specialist in incoming travel for Spain and Latin America.
In 1999 the company purchased its first extra-long (13.70 m) coaches from Neoplan and Setra. The Carmelite Bus was put into service in the centre of Vienna. In 1999 Blaguss became the first Austrian coach company to receive the quality and safety award “Bus OK. Driver OK. Everything OK.” from KfV (Austrian Road Safety Board) and the Austrian motorists’ association ÖAMTC. Blaguss was also named a Climate Alliance Business in recognition of its environmental achievements.
2000-2004
A commitment to safety and quality
In response to a sharp increase in the amount of travel to the Czech Republic, Blaguss decided in 2000 to open up an incoming travel agency in Prague.
Called PDM Blaguss (Prague Destination Management), this firm specialises in tourist services in Prague and the Czech Republic.
Paul Blaguss began working at the company in March 2001 as a member of the management team.
The first 15-meter bus, a Setra S 319 GT-HD, was put into service on the Berlin line.
Line 147 received the VOR Award as the most popular regional bus line. Volvo 7000 low-floor busses with handicapped access were acquired for the first time for Stadtlinien Wien.
The company presented the first Setra TopClass 400 and Volvo 9900 luxury tour coaches in the new Blaguss design.
Regular courses in driving safety and safety seminars were initiated for Blaguss bus drivers.
Since the opening of a new travel agency at Obkirchergasse 17 in Vienna’s 19th district in June 2003, Blaguss customers have had six travel agencies in Vienna and five in Burgenland to serve them.
Blaguss acquired full ownership this year of the Hungarian joint venture Blaguss-Volanbusz which has existed since 1987.
DMC (Destination Management Company) “adm” and PCO (Professional Congress Organiser) “icos” were merged to create admicos.
The new admicos offers its customers a complex range of services extending from congress organisation, incentives and exhibition management to special event marketing, product presentations und association management.
admicos has extensive experience. Having handled 193 events involving more than 200,000 participants and over 100,000 m² of exhibition space, admicos lives up to its slogan “We contribute to your success!”
In October 2003 the fleet had 245 buses with an average age of just 2.3 years
The line Bratislava - Vienna will be started up in 2004.
Blaguss gets the first Mercedes Sprinter for handicapped person transport.
In presence of numerous prominent persons from Burgenland and Komitat Sopron Györ a modern travel agency in Sopron will be opened in spring 2004.
Blaguss celebrates the 75-year anniversary of the company with numerous events in this anniversary year. Among many journeys also a VW Golf will be drawn at the anniversary competition.
2005-2006
The Blaguss bus fleet will be extended by the luxury segment "President". 8 new luxury buses set a new quality standard in Austria from 2005. Amongst others, the exclusive "President Noblesse" - brand Volvo, 3s seating with 29 seats on 12 metres of length and various extra.
The new line Vienna - Prague will start from March.
The new brand ROLLI Tours by Blaguss offers special travel busses and travelling für handicaped people from September.
Another Blaguss travel agency will be opened in in the west hungarian economic hotspot Szombathely in autumn.
The tour operator starts to offer charter flights to Madeira.
The building in Oberpullendorf where the parent company of Blaguss is located will be redeveloped thoroughly. The travel agency gleams in new design.
The offices Budapest (Blaguss Travel and Blaguss Congress), Prague (PDM) and Vienna (admicos) will be affiliated to the family brand BLAGUSS event.pro in 2006 and therefore will appear cross-national on the international market.
rius cruise & incoming Services GmbH will be set up in coorperation by Blaguss Reisen and Klaus Nowak in February 2006.
In 1st term of 2006 the unitary bus fleet operates in order of several Federal Departments on different events in the course of the EU presidency of Austria.
Construction of the VIB – Vienna International Busterminal in Vienna Erdberg starts in October.
Blaguss buys the 1st handicapped-accessible travel bus und sets standards with Rolli Tours. The tiers quickly can be dismantled by using fastener, so room can be made for wheel chairs, that will be lifted into the bus.
The travel agency in the capital Eisenstadt will be redeveloped. On the official opening both members of the government of Burgenland and VIPs of economy, cultur and arts are present.
2007-2008
On 7th of July 2007 the VIB, Vienna’s greatest and latest bus terminal will be finished. Organisation of the “HUB-Vienna” will be assumed by Eurolines Austria, which also manages the crosspoint Erdbergstraße for the routes Bratislava/Budapest to London, Rotterdam and Paris.
Blaguss opens an own petrol station in Oberpullendorf. It is one of the latest petrol stations in Austria: Adblue and GoBox sales, fueling by oneself, payment only by cash card, the most favorable fuel prices in the East of Austria.
Introduction of Euro IV engines and Adblue for improvement of pollution.
The travel agency in the district capital of Northen Burgenland Neusiedl am See relocates in a new attractive business office within the town.
In February 2008 the teams of Austrian Soccer League SK Rapid and FAK Austria get new team busses with luxary equipment.
