Picture above (L-R): Diederik Banken, BCD Travel; John Fentener van Vlissingen; Marine van Vlissingen; Robrecht Willaert, Travel Magazine
BCD Travel founder and business travel industry pioneer John Fentener van Vlissingen received a 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from Travel Magazine for his success and commitment to business travel. He was honored Nov. 15 at the TM Travel Awards in Antwerp.
Van Vlissingen started BCD Travel’s predecessor in 1987. He made his name in business travel in the 1980s by using technology to reshape the industry. Today, BCD is one of the world’s leading travel management companies, reporting sales of more than US$27.1 billion in 2018.
Innovation champion
BCD’s SolutionSource® marketplace was also honored at the gala, landing the Service Innovation award. SolutionSource features vetted third-party travel technology partners providing services that BCD travel clients can benefit from, in key areas like disruption, duty of care, price monitoring, value-added tax (VAT) reclaim and more. Since the marketplace launched, BCD clients have seen measurable success with SolutionSource partners Freebird, Rocketrip, TRIPbam and Yapta.
The company’s other recent accolades include 2019 Travel Agency of the Year; 2019 Most Admired Travel Management Company; America’s Best Midsize Employers; America’s Top Employers for Women; The Flexjobs’ Top 100 Remote Companies; 2019 Business Travel Award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility; and an Ecovadis “Gold” ranking for corporate social responsibility program.
Van Vlissingen and his wife, Marine van Vlissingen, are committed to community and sustainability initiatives. Together with BCD, they support charitable projects worldwide that directly benefit children in communities where BCD employees live and where the company operates.
BCD Travel is part of BCD Group, the privately owned company started by van Vlissingen in 1975. Today, BCD Group consists of BCD Travel, Travix, Park ‘N Fly and Airtrade. BCD Group employs over 14,900 people and operates in 109 countries.
