BOAT BIKE TOURS - Key Persons
After graduating school in Germany, I started studying "International Management" while living in the US until 2023. In June I moved to the Netherlands for an internship at Boat Bike Tours and decided to stay.
My hobbies: I like exploring cultures and learning new things. In my free time I like to read, play the piano and pursue dancing.
What I like most about my job: having contact with people from all over the world and working in a motivated and kind team.
Born and raised in Genemuiden (Overijssel) Now I live with my partner in Amsterdam. After working in the coffee business for 15 years, I joined Boat Bike Tours in early 2022 and I'm having super fun!
My hobbies: Tomeij Koffie Amsterdam, our own coffee! Furthermore, I can regularly be found in the gym and love to travel. Favourite country: Italy.
What I like best about my work: Besides my colleagues… Contact with our guests and contribute to their perfect vacation.
I've spent my whole career in the tourism sector, starting when I worked with "brown fleet" charters (traditional Dutch sailing ships) for 19 years. I started in 2018 at Boat Bike Tours where I work in sales and customer service, where I try to make sure our guests have the best possible experience on our tours!
I was born and raised in Amsterdam, but have been living for a long time in beautiful Hoorn.
My hobbies include: first place goes to traveling. I also like to mess around in the garden, and in the last few years I've been trying to play golf.
The best thing about my work is providing customers with all the relevant information that they need prior to booking. I enjoy being able to act as a guide for travel destinations, ships, availability and the website during a customer's search and orientation. And talking with guests from all over the world is delightful!
Job Titles:
- Tour Advisor & Partner Contacts
I have been working for Boat Bike Tours since the beginning of the 2018 season. Before that, I worked for more than 18 years with hotel reservations for business travellers at home and abroad.
My hobbies include: making long walks with my dog, but I also love to spend time in the garden. I also try to spend as much time as possible with friends and family, preferably over a drink and/or snack.
The best thing about my work is the advisory role I would say. This is where you help guests find the trip that suits them. However, as I am the contact person for our foreign booking partners, my job is mainly to make sure that communication with our partners is and stays clear and that their booking requests are handled as smooth as possible.
I've been working for Channel Cruises Holland (CCH) since the 1980s. In those days it was a small office for small passenger ships, especially for trips with schoolchildren. When I took over the company in 1995, I was intensively involved in the development of the then completely new concept of cycling and cruising. This resulted in the birth of brand and tour operator Boat Bike Tours (BBT) about 15 years later. In order to be able to focus specifically on cycling vacations, I sold my company to Laurens in 2007. Since then I've been director of CCH and BBT and am fully involved in operational matters, rather than running the company. In recent years, the company has gone through an enormous development in a market that is rapidly changing. And that's not always easy, but it's never boring! Nowadays I'm mostly involved in the management of incidents and emergencies, legal issues, product development, and maintaining contacts with cooperation partners and other major parties. I'm married to Britta and we have one adult son.
My hobbies include: walking my dog to enjoy nature, collect my thoughts and empty my head. During a holiday I love hiking in the Dolomites or another beautiful area. Our "private fleet" at home includes several canoes, so - as a real "Waterlander"- we go on canoe tours in these beautiful wetlands as often as we can.
The best thing about my work is without a doubt the variety: no year is the same, every season is different, I meet and work with lots of idiosyncratic and interesting people and always meet new challenges.
After graduation from university in 1989, I started working onboard large cruise ships and launched a long travel career working in every aspect of the business from sales to operations. Born in California, I've had the opportunity to travel about half the world and live in Austria and Bermuda before settling in Connecticut 20 years ago. I have three beautiful children.
My hobbies: I have a passion for live theatre either sitting in the audience or performing on stage. I've studied nutrition and natural medicine and appreciate how herbs, homeopathy, energy, and food heal and strengthen the mind and body. Daily meditation and prayer keep me connected and directed.
What I like most about my job: I love trip planning. I enjoy talking to people about their dream trip and how to make the logistics and choreography work together for an amazing experience.
Job Titles:
- Product Developer and Tourleader
I was born and raised in Dordrecht. After high school I moved to Amsterdam to study and wound up working on ships already as a student. In 1986 I started to sail professionally and soon ended up in shipping, on small passenger boats. I've been building and sailing ships for years, I reinvented many a boat and having a wonderful time. Now I've been boatless for about seven years. For the last three years I've been living together with Harrie in a beautiful spot in Friesland. I finally have some grass under my feet. For the last four years I've been working for Boat Bike Tours.
My hobbies include: My work has always been my life. So I still spend a lot of time working and I enjoy it a lot. I also love gardening and cycling. And you can often find me in the gym.
The best thing about my work is: There are a lot of fun things about my role. Getting all the product details "right", dealing with all the tour guides, setting out on a journey to sketch out a new tour, strategic discussions in our team, etc.
I'm originally from Germany but have been living and working in the Netherlands since 1984. I've lived in several places but I finally ended up living in the beautiful city of Alkmaar, well known for the cheese market.
My hobbies include: Mostly I like to be out in nature cycling or walking, but a good glass of wine with good company also works well. At this moment my two young kids seem to be my biggest hobby.
The best thing about my work is: I work with numbers and numbers seem to be the same everywhere. But the enthusiasm and dedication of my colleagues have inspired me from the start and have made me as enthusiastic as they are.
When I was seventeen, I traveled to Eastern Europe on a high school trip where I met an eighty-five-year-old woman from Ohio on the steps of a museum. We struck up a conversation and I couldn't believe how joyful, courageous, and full of life she was. She said it was because she loved to travel and I thought, I want to be just like her! Travel found me again when I graduated from university, and my first job was with MISR Travel, the National Tour Operator of Egypt, located in Rockefeller Center in New York City, a destination in itself. I fell into it and have been falling into travel ever since, working for several other tour operators before coming to Boat Bike Tours. I'm married to Brett, a chiropractor and we have one daughter, Jordan, and a black lab who loves her dinner.
My hobbies: Traveling, any which way: solo, with friends, but especially with my family. I love going to national parks for climbing trips with my daughter, a climber, and taking photos of the natural world while she climbs. I love great coffee, even better conversation, walking my sweet black lab, and reading five books at a time.
What I like best about my work: I love the collegial spirit that exists between colleagues at BBT. It means a lot to work for a company whose values around community and sustainability align with my own. And, I love supporting our guests as they make the decision to travel on a BBT tour, knowing they are going to fall in love!
After a beautiful childhood in Schoorl, I went to study business administration at Nyenrode. At home we always had a sailing boat called a clipper (my father's hobby that got out of hand), where I would often fill in as first mate. So I was raised with sailing in my blood…
In 1999 I took over ‘de Zeilvaart' (a sailing ship booking office), then Channel Cruises Holland and Boat Bike Tours in 2007, which I focused on fully from 2009. It feels great to put my energy and enthusiasm into the further success of our company. I'm married to Lisette and have two teenage children, Sophia and Kick. We live in Broek in Waterland.
My hobbies include: I really love traveling, especially in Italy as I love good cooking. I'm a member of a culinary cooking club in Amsterdam. Besides that, I'm into a lot of sports. As well as being on the Waterlandse Hockey Club veteran team, I also jog and do bootcamps twice a week.
The best thing about my work is working on new products, tours and ships, as well as improving the business and existing products. And also building up our team.
Job Titles:
- Sustainability Coordinator
I have worked in several roles at BBT, both in the office and on board our sailing ships. In 2014 I started working in the marketing department at Boat Bike Tours. From the end of 2019 I've been able to focus my full attention on making Boat Bike Tours more sustainable.
I live with my husband and 2 children in the former tourist church in Onderdijk (just below Medemblik), where we see both The Noordrouters and the Sail & Bike IJsselmeer cyclists.
My hobbies include: reading the newspaper undisturbed, being outside, working in my beautiful garden, staring at the sea and sailing.
The best thing about my work is the contact with other enthusiastic "greenskeepers".
I grew up in Monnickendam, but have been living with my boyfriend in Purmerend for a few months now. I have always been interested in the tourism industry and after I graduated from high school I went to study Hotel Management. After 5 years of working in the hospitality industry, I ended up at Boat Bike Tours. I now work here with great pleasure.
My hobbies: I really enjoy being around people. I love going out with my friends. I have also been playing tennis for years.
What I like most about my job:I like the contact with the guests and working with our fantastic team to make sure they have a great trip!
Job Titles:
- Tour Advisor for Groups and Charters
I live in Monnickendam with my husband and two teenage boys. I've been working at the office of Boat Bike Tours for a long time now, and I still really enjoy it.
After living in Hoorn for a few years, I returned to Edam early this year with my husband and two young children. I've been working for Channel Cruises / Boat Bike Tours for almost 20 years and I still do this with a lot of pleasure.
My hobbies include: I like to go out, spend the weekend away, go to the beach.
The best thing about my work is to inform people about our unique product and to provide an unforgettable holiday.
Born and raised in Germany, I moved to the US as a young adult, where …
Read more
Born and raised in Germany, I moved to the US as a young adult, where I have lived, raised my four kids with my husband and worked ever since (except for a short one-year stint in the UK). I started out in the Hospitality and Travel industry in 1987 and am thrilled to come full circle after skipping around finance and the relocation business for some time.
My hobbies led me to Boat Bike Tours: I love traveling, boating (we have our own small power boat), cycling, spending time with family, my dog and friends, hiking, playing Pickle Ball, going to concerts, reading, volunteering in the community and learning about people.
What I like best about my work: Working at Boat Bike Tours is fun! The people are great, the philosophy of mienskip is fabulous and the passengers are some of the most interesting folks you will ever come across.
Job Titles:
- Management and Tour Advisor for Groups and Charters
As well as working at Boat Bike Tours I also study business administration and enjoy playing tennis in my spare time.
My hobbies include playing tennis, sailing, and sitting on a terrace with my girlfriends drinking wine.
The best thing about my work is the contact with customers, working in a cozy team, and the contact with the ships and crew.
Job Titles:
- Tour Advisor & Product Management
I have lived in Monnickendam all my life, now together with my daughter and son.
My hobbies include: reading, going on walks, watching my kid's baseball games.
The best thing about my work is helping our guests book a nice trip. I also take care of the boarding information and make sure that the programs and ships are on the website. I also went to several fairs, where I met partners and helped to recruit new partners.
I was born in Utrecht and raised near Amersfoort. I went to study at the Hotel School in Maastricht and worked in the national and international hotel industry. I lived and worked in Spain, Morocco and then the US, but since 2017 I've been in Amsterdam with my partner, Charlie. In 2021, I got in touch with Boat Bike Tours and decided to change tack and join them as Operations Manager.
My hobbies: Charlie and I love to travel and try to explore as many places as possible in our beautiful and interesting world - and we always try to find the best drinking, eating and sleeping places everywhere we go, including here in Amsterdam.
The best thing about my work: is the contact with people - inside the company and outside. Everyone matters and brings something, and it's super fun to create experiences together.