Coach companies in Brabant endorse Theo Vegter's cry for help. According to Vegter, billions went to KLM and public transport, but the bus companies received little support. Coach companies have been earning their money for years without that subsidies or tax benefits. In the Eindhoven Daily Today, director Joop Vreugdenhil of Zebra Tours in Bergen op Zoom has Peter Ullenbroeck state that the sector can also take matters into its own hands. Of course there are questions about the billions in support for KLM and the support for the sector.
"At the same time, you have to ask yourself whether we as a coach sector have been creative enough in the corona crisis"
Director Vreugdenhil says that you should not only put the ball in the hands of the government and that the sector should also be looked at. As an example, Vreugdenhil mentions the conversion of buses in the past year to be able to transport at least smaller tour groups. Because Zebra Tours has done this as a company, they have been able to make quite a few trips, including the transport of temporary workers.
According to industry chairman Theo Vegter of Bus transport Netherlands, it is 'pure disinterest' in the government's attitude. Many of the coach companies in the Netherlands are in heavy weather and are waiting for the money for the second quarter. Every coach that is standing still or has stood still in the past year will soon cost 20.000 euros per year.
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Investments
The coach sector is not facing an easy period. Just before the corona crisis, the Dutch government decided that the environmental zones of different cities had to be designed in the same way, and these are going way too far for the sector. The past year has had such an impact on the coach companies that financing a new Euro-6 bus is impossible.
about Zeebra Tours
The founders of Zeebra Tours have been active in the coach world since 1983. They once started with 1 bus. Today, the total fleet consists of more than 40 buses, 15 of which are based in Bergen op Zoom. Traveling by coach is still possible. The drivers work in accordance with RIVM guidelines. In the coaches they use a seating arrangement so that the passengers are at least 1,5 meters apart.