What does RDA stand for?

The minutes of the "Reise-Ring Deutscher Autobusunternehmungen" (German coach companies travel ring) from 22nd January 1951 record under Point 1 an unanimous decision to establish an association called the "Reise-Ring Deutscher Autobusunternehmungen" which was to be officially registered in the Registry of Clubs and Associations of Wiesbaden District Court.

The minutes record 19 participants at a fairly brief meeting which dealt primarily with formalities. The conclusion of Point 4 notes that there were no more items for discussion. All but one of the participants was from were public bus companies.

The abbreviation RDA was used right from the very beginning. This often led at times to misunderstandings and to word play. In France, for instance, "RDA" was often mistaken for "GDR", "Republique Democratique Allemande". Or "Rasen durchs Ausland" (speeding abroad), an allusion to the many RDA study tours. A key RDA task from the outset was to discover new destinations for coach holiday travel. These voyages of discovery were groundbreaking for the branch as a whole.

Combined Coach and Flight Travel

From 1960 attention was paid to increasing competition from air travel. Heinrich Vogel, Publisher of trade magazine Omnibus-Revue, set the discussion in motion with a lecture on a self-made colour film about a flight trip to Japan and India. In passing, he mentioned that coach and air travel complimented each other and that they should work together. Mr. Vogel had hit the very nerve of the RDA which had already set itself the goal of co-operating with the tourism sector.

New combinations of coach and air travel could be witnessed from then on in. An exemplary test was carried out in 1967: RDA members travelled by coach to Bulgaria and flew home by air. The RDA travelled not only throughout Europe but organised study tours to Egypt, Israel, Brazil, Japan and Australia. This is where currently popular forms of combined air-coach travel were tried and tested - flights to destinations and round tours with coaches.

RDA Annual General Meetings

RDA AGMs have been held in varying destinations right from the very beginning. The RDA family in its early years was not only guest in German cities but also especially in Austria and the Netherlands. The most dramatic, stormiest and longest RDA AGM ever was held in 1964 in Bavarian Kampenwand. A sudden and unexpected storm ensured that participants were not able to return from the mountain to the valley below because the cable cars were swinging in the wind. Only long after midnight was it possible to abseil cabin by cabin.

The AGMs had to be organised, too. Then, as now, this was the job of a Board member - a principle that has proven its value over time. In 1958 a renowned Northern German coach operator, Charly Wolters, was elected to the RDA Board and was given the task of organising the following AGM. As a trained hotelier and good host he inspected and tasted the evening buffet. He concluded that fresh crab had not been used in the crab cocktail. The restaurant manager made a contrary claim. Charly Wolters thereupon tipped the crab cocktails from the table and proceeded to lead the then relatively small RDA Family to another restaurant nearby.

When the term ‘RDA Family’ first appeared is no longer known. The term is documented since 1970 and originated probable during RDA study trips which were always informative and enjoyable occasions. And the RDA Family is very large indeed. It includes not only coach holiday companies and their service suppliers but also associate RDA members from the coach and tourism industries at large.

Joint Advertising

The idea to initiate joint advertising is one which emerged on numerous occasions but which rarely if ever came to pass. What did Omnibus-Revue have to say about the matter in 1967? 'Coach operators are individualists and difficult to gather under any particular banner.' A slogan which was created in 1960, for example, entitled "Nimm Urlaub vom Steuer, die Omnibusse sind auch nicht teuer", (Take a holiday from your steering wheel, coach holidays are not expensive) has for many reasons still not managed to take hold.

Der RDA as Lobbyist

RDA representatives viewed themselves as lobbyists from an early stage. In the initial years, as is still the case today, RDA lobbying centred on the protectionist attitude of the federal German government in favour of German Rail. It also concerned permission to pick up passengers and traffic in holiday destinations. The administration suspected hidden public transport and tried to interfere. The RDA battle against discrimination of coach tourism vis-à-vis other modes of transport is still one of the RDA’s key tasks today.

Organisation

The RDA had a managing director or a CEO right from the very beginning, persons who manage and supervise the federation’s day-to-day work. RDA CEO Dieter Gauf initiated the RDA Day of Coach Tourism - where current coach tourism relevant themes and issues are discussed - at the former International Touristika exhibition in Frankfurt am Main. The RDA federation has been acting patron of this highly regarded one-day conference and traditional kick-off event of the coach tourism year since 1985.

The RDA-Workshop

Der RDA-Workshop was first held in 1975 in Grafenau in the Bavarian Forest with a total of 75 exhibitors. A total alcohol ban was ordained by RDA President Josef Grein during the debut Workshop. Omnibus-Revue wrote at the time that 'It should be mentioned that the first RDA-Workshop was organised to such perfection that there is hardly any more room for improvement.' Today the RDA-Workshop is the most important trade-only exhibition for the international coach tourism sector. Since 1985 it has taken place at Cologne Fair.