Gebeco
| Society for international encounters and cooperation
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH & Co. KG |
| founding | 1978 |
| Seat | Kiel |
| management | Ury Steinweg (Chairman of the Management Board)
Thomas Bohlander Michael Knapp |
| Number of employees | 200 |
| sales | 119 million euros (2018/19) |
| Branch | Tourism and leisure |
| Website | www.gebeco.de |
Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG ( Society for International Encounters and Cooperation GmbH & Co. KG ), based in Kiel, is a tour operator of study and adventure trips with around 60,000 guests and 119 million euros in sales (2018/19) . The worldwide adventure trips included in the Gebeco portfolio, Dr. Tigges study trips, private and active trips, adventure cruises and English-language adventure trips focus on encounters with foreign people and cultures. Gebeco is also committed to sustainable tourism.
history
Ury Steinweg founded Gebeco in 1978 with his then partner to offer short trips to Eastern Europe. Two years later they expanded the offer to include trips outside of Europe. In 1985 the first guests traveled to Beijing with Gebeco . In 1993, Gebeco was the first foreign tour operator to open an office in China. In 1998 TUI Deutschland joined Gebeco as a partner. At the same time, Gebeco took over Dr. Tigges study trips from TUI. The catalogs for hiking and cycling trips appeared for the first time in 2005. In 2008 Gebeco expanded its portfolio of round trips with Adventure Trips by Gebeco for a younger target group. In 2011, Gebeco was the first major German tour operator to receive the sustainability seal “CSR-Tourism-certified” from the TourCert certification company.
Society, shareholder
Around 200 employees * work at Gebeco in Kiel in cooperation with business partners all over the world. In addition, around 300 tour guides are on duty worldwide.
The shareholders are Ury Steinweg with 49.9% and TUI Deutschland GmbH with 50.1% .
Products and brands
Gebeco mainly offers group tours. The focus is on guided adventure and study trips. Further offers are hiking and cycling trips as well as adventure cruises in cooperation with TUI Cruises. In 2008, English-language adventure trips in international groups were added. Trips for special groups as well as private trips can also be found in the organizer's program.
Experience Gebeco Lands has stood for round trips since 1978. In addition to adventure trips, the portfolio also includes Dr. Tigges study trips. Dr. Tigges was founded in 1928 by Hubert Tigges and Maria Tigges in Wuppertal and has been part of Gebeco since 1998. Hiking and cycling trips are also part of the Gebeco travel offer, as well as private trips. Gebeco guests travel in a group or privately with their personal tour guide. Traveling with Gebeco means meeting people and cultures around the world.
Adventure-Trips by Gebeco is the name of the adventure trips launched by Gebeco at the beginning of 2008 under the name “goXplore”. The focus is on adventure travel in small international groups. The travel language is English. According to the organizer, the adventure trips should "close the gap between backpackers traveling individually and organized round trips".
sustainability
As a German tour operator, Gebeco received the sustainability seal from the certification company TourCert for the fifth time in 2019 . The certification distinguishes organizers who are committed to sustainability and corporate responsibility beyond legal requirements.
Even with the establishment of the Society for International Encounters and Cooperation, the responsible handling of people, ecological resources and cultural treasures was the top priority. The red seal CSR Tourism certified from TourCert also obliges Gebeco to continuously improve its sustainability.
Commitment to human rights in tourism
In 2012, tour operators - including Gebeco -, civil societies and politicians joined forces to form the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism initiative. It sees itself as an open platform for the promotion of human rights in tourism.
Aid projects
With financial and conceptual support, Gebeco is committed to various aid projects worldwide. The aim is to provide help for self-help and thus give those affected a sustainable perspective.
Sustainable travel
Since 2011 Gebeco has been offering sustainable trips that are dedicated to the various aspects of social or environmental sustainability. Some of the guests on these trips use public transport, visit local aid projects and often stay in eco-hotels and lodges. The aim is to enable travelers to contribute to environmentally friendly tourism without restricting the standard. Gebeco publishes sustainability reports every two years. The company is also a founding member of the German sustainability initiative Futouris.
Awards
- The travel magazine GEO Saison has awarded Gebeco several times in the last few years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018) with the Golden Palm for innovative travel concepts.
- Travel One Kompass honored the tour operator in 2008, 2009, 2015 and most recently in 2016 for the adventure cruises with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
- Further awards followed
- through the go asia award ,
- 2011 and 2012 through the Sonntag Aktuell Touristik Preis
- through the Spain Tourism Award Best Ager
- 2014 by Sonntag Aktuell Touristik-Preis for creative travel ideas
- 2015 by EcoTrophea for the sustainable initiative "Tracker"
- 2015 with the GreenTec Awards for ecological and economic commitment
- 2018 with the Globus Award as "Best Travel Agency Service Special Organizer"
- 2020 with the Spain Tourism Award for "Tour Operators - Culture and Round Trips"
- Columbus Prize 2020 from the Association of German Travel Journalists for company founder Ury Steinweg
Holdings
- In Germany
- Creativ advertising and consulting company, Kiel
- IRS, Inforeise-Service GmbH, Sigmaringen
- Atora GmbH, Nuremberg
- International
- APTC, All Pacific Travel Concept
- Sydney, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Nadi, Fiji
- ATC, African Travel Concept
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Windhoek, Namibia
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Gebeco Company Profile 2013". P. 8, Gebeco GmbH & ", p. 3 and 8 (PDF). Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG.
- ↑ "Gebeco Sustainability Report 2013", p. 3 (PDF) ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG.
- ^ "Sustainability at Gebeco" - Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG . Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ "Gebeco press releases" - Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ “Gebeco Sustainability Report 2013”, p. 19 (PDF) . Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG.
- ↑ "go asia" - press releases . Website go asia. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ^ "Tourism Insider Online Magazine" . Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ "Dr. Tigges" - press releases ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website Dr. Tigges. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ "Sonntag Aktuell Online" ( Memento of the original dated December 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website Sonntag Aktuell. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG" - press releases ( memento of the original from October 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website Gebeco GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ Spain Tourism Awards 2020: Spain honors outstanding trips. Retrieved March 30, 2020 .
- ↑ Honor: Ury Steinweg receives prize for his life's work. Retrieved March 30, 2020 .
