Midweek Interview with Bunnik Tours’ Sacha Bunnik

Midweek Interview with Bunnik Tours’ Sacha Bunnik

Travel Weekly takes a stroll in the snow with Bunnik Tours joint CEO Sacha Bunnik, who we discovered loves nothing more than beating his brother Dennis.

The challenge for the industry is…

Misleading advertising and increased competition from overseas unregulated tour/travel companies.

The things I like about my job are…

The great bunch of people I get to spend time with on a daily basis, along with an industry that is forever changing, so something is always happening! Plus, the fact that I get to the opportunity to travel five months of the year (I’m very lucky)!

And the frustrations are…

Trying to meet everybody’s expectations to the best of our ability. Perfection is not always easy to achieve.

If I didn’t work in travel, I would be…

Playing for the Adelaide Crows (unfortunately I’m a bit old and unfit).

My favourite airline is…

Qantas – friendly Australian service.  After being away from home, it’s nice to hear the Aussie accent.

My proudest moment was…

Clocking up and visiting 100 countries and all seven continents, which was made sweeter by beating Dennis, my older brother, to this milestone.

The naughtiest thing I ever did was…

I am from a Dutch family and Amsterdam is my hometown, so I’m sure there’s something in there I could draw from. Overeating my fair share during office celebrations!

I try to relax by…

Watching football (the Crows and Adelaide United) and annoying my kids.

The last time I feared for my life was…

Arriving into Tripoli, Libya and having someone wave a gun at me in the airport. Fun times.

If I can, I always try to avoid…

Crowds. That’s why I love our small-group interactions.

I really wish I had…

More time to spend with my beautiful wife and three daughters.

The best advice I’ve ever received was…

Don’t become obsessed with competition – walk your own path (given to me by Paul Cook about 20 years ago).

I don’t understand why people…

Aren’t more environmentally aware. One of the greatest pleasures at Bunnik Tours is giving back to the people and places to which we travel. People need to take care of this beautiful Earth before it’s too late.

My greatest weakness is…

A very short attention span and becoming very easily bored, which isn’t a great combination for long meetings.

And my greatest strength is…

Being light-hearted. I joke around a lot – life is too short to be taken too seriously.

If I won a $1 million lottery (aside from travelling), I would…

Buy the block next to our house and have a massive veggie garden.

If I was prime minister, I would…

Ban cricket, as it ruins the sports section in summer; and make AFL a year-round sport.

If I could be someone else for one day, I would be…

Bono from U2, as it would be awesome to be able to entertain a stadium full of cheering fans.

I’ve always wanted to travel to…

Drive the Alaskan Highway. That said, it changes daily, as last week it was a walking trip in France, and the week before was the Cook Islands. I’m easily led and impressed.

My favourite holiday was…

Recently I went on a boys’ trip to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. It was a very interesting and moving place.

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