Q&A with Ryan Hansen

President & COO of Bon Voyage Travel

By Tara Kirkpatrick

From managing operations for the Arizona men’s basketball team to an award-winning travel agency with global reach, Bon Voyage Travel President and COO Ryan Hansen has always had a knack for logistics.

The late-Coach Lute Olson even mentioned Hansen in his autobiography, The Seasons of My Life, as the glue that kept the team together from venue to venue for almost a decade. It took a determined Peter Evans, founder of Bon Voyage Travel, to lure him away. 

“I was a student manager, I had not proven anything and he took an interest in me,” said Hansen. Over 19 years, the two connected over sports, lunch and conversation until Evans made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“He said, ‘hey, if you’re looking to run your own show, be a leader of a business..I might have an opportunity outside of athletics,’” Hansen said. That was 2011. Now, 15 years later, he offers his thoughts on the company’s half-century milestone.

Q: What are your thoughts on Bon Voyage Travel’s success over 50 years?

A: Peter really built the company around people, while his business acumen and the moves he made kept it alive. We are a service industry and when you’re in service, you have to have good people. The impact of individual people along the way has kept it going and has made it what it is. 

We had a vision for the business, to grow it and do exactly what we did, which was use the current retail brick and mortar foundation at that time to build off of and expand into the digital space. It was kind of open-ended. Let’s see how this goes, but we are in this together. Let’s go build something special and that’s exactly what happened. 

Q: What makes Bon Voyage Travel such a strong leader and national player in the industry?

A: I think one of the reasons why we’ve expanded and become a dominant player in the travel space, especially in the luxury cruising sector, is it really starts with the online piece and growing our footprint to talk to more people. We have a pretty cool business model that combines service with the online connection point. We have incredible advisors who are experts in the thing you want to do and can connect with you through the digital platform. As a client, I don’t have to walk into their office. I don’t have to sit across the desk. Bon Voyage can deliver that same expertise, insight and value through the phone, or an email or a FaceTime call. The luxury cruiser, for example, wants more than just saving $100 on the booking–it’s wrapping together the entire experience.

Q: In this day in age, why is a travel advisor still important?

A: The next trip you take that doesn’t have a problem will be the first trip you take that doesn’t have a problem. Because it just happens – air issues, delays, cancellations, the room’s not perfect. Something along the way breaks down. It’s complex. There’s lots of moving parts and that’s where our advisors shine. They know the complexities. They develop a relationship to anticipate and match people to the right product. And there’s a comfort in knowing an expert has taken care of the details, so you can focus on enjoying the experience.

Can you do it yourself? Sure. You can also sell your own house. You can also create your own retirement plan. You can be your own lawyer and go online and write up your own will. You could do all of those things. But on things that you dream, plan and save for, don’t you typically want an expert? 

That’s what our advisors do. They match people to the right style of travel and the right product. It might be savings, it might be extra amenities, it could be a room upgrade at a hotel. That’s the kind of high-touch service we are selling. And, because these are lifelong memories, you want to get it right.

Q: Why was the arrivia acquisition the right one for Bon Voyage Travel?

A: A by-product of our success and growth–it brings acquisition opportunities. There were many that came to us.

One guiding light was we were looking for someone that valued Bon Voyage Travel for who we are, how we do things and the people. Multiple suitors were excited about Bon Voyage, but wanted to change the brand. They wanted us to be folded into their big national brand. That didn’t match the magic that we had set up. There’s too much blood, sweat and tears that have been pumped into this business to change it.

Arrivia was looking to diversity their portfolio. They saw what made Bon Voyage special and didn’t want to change it – they wanted to give us the technology, resources and reach to do more of it.

Pictured above – Ryan Hansen, President & COO, Bon Voyage Travel. Photo by Brent G. Mathis

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