Luxury ground transportation company RideCentric started with one Lincoln Town Car in 1999. Now the Dallas-based company is in 67 countries with a fleet network of over 12,000 vehicles and has developed a system of providing hundreds of reservations each day to travelers in North Texas and worldwide.

The ride hasn’t always been smooth, but along the way, Kevin Hoque, president and CEO of RideCentric, has established new platforms for the chauffeured car company using technology to create ways that customers connect with services for added convenience and efficiency.

Each client has access to a RideCentric service booking portal with a dashboard that provides efficient, precise real-time communication between the company and client, Hoque said. The company’s technology platform allows clients to tailor ground transportation according to their specific travel needs. Among other benefits, the platform allows corporate clients to monitor, manage and maximize their ground transportation expenditures, Hoque said.

RideCentric, a private company, has revenues in the $5 million to $10 million range, and has consistently generated double-digit annual growth, Hoque said.

Some of RideCentric’s clients include the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, FC Dallas, Texas Rangers and AT&T Performing Arts Center. RideCentric is also the exclusive Dallas-Fort Worth luxury ground transportation provider of Emirates Airlines with direct service to Dubai. The company recently was named the official exclusive ground transportation partner of Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star.

In this interview, Hoque talks about the company’s growth, challenges and opportunities, and how he is working with colleagues on a much larger platform which would unify the $50 billion global luxury ride industry.

What is your growth story? We started with one Town Car in 1999 and we’re now in over 67 countries last year. Back in 1999, we realized the retail sector of the business was going away — the Hummer limousine, the Excursions — because disposable income was going away. People weren’t riding in limos anymore. People didn’t want to be seen in a limo. We moved to the corporate element of the business. We excelled. We incorporated clients — the Fortune 500s of the world, hotels, Emirates (airline), all the local sports teams, AT&T Performing Arts Center.

To what do you attribute that growth? Loyalty from our clients. They understand the value we are proposing. And always anticipating the clients’ needs.

What’s new for RideCentric? We are the exclusive ground transportation provider for Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star. We have renewed our sixth year with Emirates Airlines. We are exclusive partners for all of the local professional sports teams — Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, FC Dallas, Dallas Stars. When the teams travel, we handle the ground transportation needs for the entire team and the logistics that go with it. Not just the teams, but the big clients, the cheerleaders, you name it.

How is your technology unique? I’m working with a group of colleagues in the industry on a much larger platform which would unify all of the industry. It would digitize the limousine industry. Right now it is very fragmented. It doesn’t have an online presence. The rental cars and taxis are there, but nothing from the limousine industry or the chauffeured car industry at all. Corporate America is using the service, but we’re just in the dinosaur age. It is a $10 billion industry domestically, $50 billion globally, yet it’s not digitized at all. There’s not a unified language. We don’t have a dynamic inventory.

Will you give me an example? If you were to book an American Airlines flight, seat 13-F, that seat is gone when you book it. That’s a dynamic inventory. But for (the luxury ground transportation industry) it’s 100 percent done manually right now. You call up and say, ‘I need five cars for the Super Bowl,’ and it’s all done manually.

Where did the idea for this come from? We saw a definite need for this. Our clients were asking for it.

What stage are you in right now? Development. We’ve already sunk in about two years of industry knowledge and research into it.

With whom are you working on it? I’m not sure they want to be forthcoming with that information yet.

How much capital have you invested into this? North of $5 million.

Is this app based? It’s a platform, not an app. An app would be an ancillary that would go in.

Who would this service help? Corporate travelers. Corporate America. Leisure as well. We will have a segment of it that will go to the consumer direct, but it’s predominantly for corporate America and the business travelers and travel planners.

Will this be a separate company? Yes, but we are already using the technology internally. There are two companies that are beta testing this right now. One is here and one is on the west coast, so we have coverage of all of America. My records have 67 countries, including over 500 cities throughout the globe that are covered. All these data points that will go in in this platform.

Where do you grow from there? Our next target would be all of the English speaking countries and then Southeast Asia for growth.

What is your timetable? In the next two years, it will come in in phases.

How many chauffeurs do you have? Over 250. We have a recruiting program. We take the best of the chauffeurs. Either you have it or you don’t. You have to have passion for the industry of travel. If you say, ‘I’m just doing this until I find another gig,’ that’s not our guy.

What is your biggest challenge? Market adoption of the technology.

What is your biggest opportunity in the year ahead? The biggest opportunities will be in the groups and events sector. That’s the low-hanging fruit for us.

What other services does RideCentric offer? We’ve added another segment to our business called iDesign Meetings. It’s a destination management company. We area full-service event management company. Innovation was lacking in that sector and we were able to be a champion in that sector as well.

How many people do your businesses employ? We have a small team of 25. In addition to Dallas, we also have an office in San Antonio and Houston for iDesign Meetings. RideCentric and iDesign Meetings use some of the same resources. There is a lot we can do with existing clientele that has given us business through the years.

What events has iDesign Meetings managed? The halftime show party hosted by Pepsi at the Super Bowl at NRG Stadium. We did the annual client get-together for Marriott, which they bring out their largest clients. It was 340 clients, and they showcased their best property in Houston, which is Marriott Marquis, the new convention center hotel. We are the exclusive partner in there as well.

What differentiates iDesign meetings? The sector is lacking innovation. They are tired of coming to Dallas and getting proposals which have the same hoedown or cowboy (Western-themed) events for Dallas or NASA-themed party if they’re going to Houston. We’re completely shattering that expectation from clients and we’re giving them new things.

What is an example? Adobe, a client of ours, wanted something different. We had a local artists draw with chalk all of the signage. Everybody who worked for Adobe was speechless.        

Hoque Global recently revealed plans for One Newpark, a 38-story, 825,000-square-

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