John Snyder to step down as president and CEO of BCD Travel

After more than 30 years with the company, BCD Travel president and chief executive officer John Snyder (pictured) will step down on 1 July, transitioning his responsibilities to current Boron CEO and former BCD chief financial officer Stephan Baars. Snyder said it was the right time to step away. “It was important to me to help get BCD well on the road to recovery, with the pandemic in our rearview mirror.” “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,” he added. Snyder oversaw several acquisitions and won numerous accolades. “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,” Snyder said of Baars return to replace him. “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.” “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,” Baars said. “I’m honoured to follow in his footsteps.” A native of Hanover, Germany, Baars 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, Baars left BCD Travel to become CEO of Boron, the private investment company of BCD founder John Fentener van Vlissingen. “As founder, I am grateful to John for his role in building BCD to what it is today. And I am confident that Stephan is the right person to guide our family company into the next, next generation,“ van Vlissingen said.