Hani Banoub works to make ground transportation the star of Tampa Bay’s big events!
Hani Banoub first arrived in Tampa Bay as a teenager to attend the University of South Florida. A few years earlier, his father came here to establish USF's School of Public Health. Hani said he started doing business internationally at a young age, including exporting cars and boats to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. A few years after graduating from USF in civil engineering, he went to work for DAF Netherlands, a company that manufactures and exports commercial vehicles and parts and he was tasked to increase market share in Africa and the Middle East. He'd then work for Mitsui & Co. to develop new business in the Middle East, and later joined Energy Allied International, where he was a consultant developing new business for select oil and gas, engineering and construction companies on major infrastructure projects globally. He spent 14 years there. Its consultants had a close relationship with Exxon Mobil and when it needed transportation services, that exposed Hani to that business. When he got sick of traveling, he became an entrepreneur. In 2013, he merged his Advantage Limousine with Ambassador Limousine to create Ambassador Group of North America. Now, the company specializes in corporate and group ground transportation and has a large fleet of luxury buses and executive vans. The business has taken some hits in recent years, especially from ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, Hani said. Also, a few years ago, his company lost one of its anchor accounts, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (he is in litigation over it). That forced the company to downsize and start diversifying, he said.
