Alumni & Family Travel Director Heidi Quiram connected with Sandy Schmidt, Specialty Travel Consultant at Holbrook Travel, for insights into Holbrook’s success, past, present, and future.
Please tell us a little about Holbrook Travel: your start, what kinds of programs you offer, your values. Such a fabulous question and one I never tire of telling. Our founder Giovanna Holbrook began her company by taking an amazing group of intrepid travelers from her community in Gainesville, FL, to the Galapagos Islands in 1974, accompanied by leading scientists of Biology and Lepidoptera. It was not long before Holbrook had a presence in the eco-tourism business long before the term was coined, and brought people to various countries in Central and South America, as well as Western and Southern Africa. The offerings have widened over the years to some of the Asian and Pacific countries, as well as Iceland and both polar regions. And our new domestic travel options are amazing! Primarily, our company has been nature oriented, even drilling down to specific birding, photography, and garden tours that have been extremely well received over the years. As well, in 1985, Giovanna saved over 500 acres in the Sarapiqui Valley from being clear cut, and developed what is now one of the most famous eco-lodges in Costa Rica – Selva Verde Lodge. She is a legend in my eyes, and many, many others throughout the world.
Always and forever, Holbrook has been a company based on a true commitment to our mission statement, our love of the places we visit and for many of us consider our second home, and the integrity and family atmosphere of our company.
Have you been able to run group trips this year and if so, to what parts of the world? Absolutely, our tours were running until early to mid-March, the last safely coming home from Colombia and the Galapagos Islands. But it was business as usual prior to that time, with tours from Antarctica to Mexico to Costa Rica. After that it came to a halt, of course, but we’ve been very busy speaking with travel planners, setting up future tours, and hearing from our individual travelers, whom we work with as well.
What do you hope the future of travel will look like? (I.e., how might the pandemic change travel for the better?) I truly hope and trust that people have learned lessons from this crisis, will work together to tackle climate change for the sake of the planet like never before, and appreciate every opportunity they have to visit different indigenous cultures, soak in rich laden forests, and experience breathtaking landscapes that are all new to them, and need their love and support! This can be eye-opening at any age, and so needed in this time of social and environmental unrest.
What else would you like prospective St. Olaf travelers to know? The Holbrook family atmosphere is something that is felt by our clients in many ways, and has proven over the years to elevate our welcome into numerous circles and opportunities internationally and locally. Please visit our website to learn more about us, watch our videos and webinars — especially valuable are the videos that Giovanna Holbrook is featured if you’d like to get to know our “soul” (keep in mind her lovely daughter Andrea is our President, so that “soul” part is very much in attendance!) — and feel free to make yourself known via email or phone, and especially via St. Olaf and Heidi Quiram, who have been fabulous partners on special departures in the past to Cuba and Costa Rica; we can’t wait to have folks continue to register for the upcoming Madagascar and Monarchs in Mexico tours! And of course, we look forward to the future with our offerings for St. Olaf. Stay tuned — excitement is in the air!