Former Bentours staff got together recently when the company’s founder, Bent Ronnov, and director Judith Dryer invited ex-Bentours team members and friends to a casual celebration of the 40th anniversary of Bentours founding.
At the gathering in Sydney, Bent reflected on the Bentours journey and mentioned some highlights of the firm’s history.
The original Bentours was founded at the end October 1979 by Bent Ronnov and Jan and Peter Fowler, as a Scandinavian specialist selling Bennett coach tours. Bentours first brochure was published in 1980 – in black and white!
Bentours started FIT tailor-made tours – such as the hugely popular Grand Nordic Tour – in 1983 after Bent travelled from Helsinki to Lapland and on to the top of Norway by local bus.
“This was early spring and a complete eyeopener for me,” Bent Ronnov recounted.
“The bus travelled in a convoy of cars through Lapland on roads where there was snow higher than the local bus. I thought, Aussies have never seen something like this.
Bent Ronnov and Judith Dryer
“We then included this route to Hurtigruten daily sailings from Kirkenes to Bergen and operated these tours with daily guaranteed departures.”
In 1986, Bentours tours included Russia, Baltic States and Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands and in 1998 Hurtigruten commenced 14-day cruises to Antarctica and The Fjords of Chile. This inclusion was a big transformation to the business.
Bentours was sold in 2003 to MyPlanet and Bent Ronnov and Judith Dryer left the company in 2006.
Bent spends his time between Denmark and Australia and has regular catch-ups with former team members – many of whom still work in the industry.
ex-Bentours staff gather in Sydney
.jpg){kind=tracking}
