John Snyder to Step Down as CEO of BCD Travel; Stephan Baars to Take Over

(12/05/23)  After more than 30 years with BCD Travel, John Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer, has announced that he will step down on 1 July 2023, transitioning his responsibilities to current Stephan Baars, former BCD Chief Financial Officer and current CEO of Boron.

John Snyder

“After three decades of doing what I love, there was never going to be an easy time to say goodbye and step away, but this is the right time,” John said. “It was important to me to help get BCD well on the road to recovery, with the pandemic in our rearview mirror. As a testament to what a fundamentally strong company and culture we have here, we’ve maintained an extraordinary track record of client retention and sales success. We’ve rebuilt our teams with an eye on delivering the world’s very best travel solutions and customer service. And we have a clear path for our next phase of growth. I can say with full confidence that BCD’s best days are yet to come.”

A Wisconsin native, John joined what was then called WorldTravel Advisors in 1992. In various leadership roles, he helped guide the company through periods of rapid growth, including the 2006 acquisitions in Europe that led to the creation of the BCD Travel brand and established the company as a leading player on the global stage. In the years that followed the launch of BCD, John oversaw acquisitions designed to meet the needs of a growing client base.

During John’s time as president and CEO, he and BCD have earned numerous accolades that reflect the company’s core vision to be the world’s most trusted, innovative and sustainable travel management company.

John turns the reins of BCD over to longtime friend and colleague Stephan Baars.

“So robust is our culture that it lets us refer affectionately to ‘boomerang’ colleagues — people who leave for other opportunities but return to the BCD Travel family, drawn back by the strength of our values and our commitment to living them,” John said. “Stephan has almost 14 years of travel industry experience, and I had the pleasure and privilege of working closely with him during his 11-year tenure as BCD Travel’s CFO. Stephan shares my conviction that client focus lies at the heart of a successful enterprise. He also believes in the importance of people and innovation, and in long-standing relationships with business partners. His track record in steering companies through times of change and growth speaks to his skill in aligning commercial, operational, technology and central service teams toward common goals.”

Stephan Baars

A native of Hanover, Germany, Stephan has three decades of executive leadership experience in the telecommunications, oil and gas production, business travel and investment sectors.

In 2013, he became chairman of the Supervisory Board for BCD Travel Germany, a role he still holds today.

In 2017, Stephan left BCD Travel to become CEO of Boron, the private investment company of BCD founder John Fentener van Vlissingen.

“In his more than three decades with BCD Travel, John has accomplished an amazing body of work that has benefited not only our company but the entire travel industry,” Stephan said. “I’m honored to follow in his footsteps and build on that incredible success. Like John, I’m a ‘people person,’ and I believe that perhaps his greatest legacy is promoting and nurturing a strong company culture, guided by core values that feed long-term success.”

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