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Bentours Founder Bent Ronnov and Director Judith Dryer invited ex Bentours staff and friends to celebrate casually the 40th Anniversary in Sydney.

Bent reflected back into Bentours journey and mentioned some highlights of Bentours history;

The original Bentours was founded in the end October 1979 by Bent Ronnov and Jan and Peter Fowler as Scandinavian specialist selling Bennett coach tours. Bentours first brochure was published in 1980 in black and white!

Bentours started FIT tailor made tours such as the hugely popular Grand Nordic Tour in 1983 after Bent travelled from Helsinki to Lapland and thereon to top of Norway by local bus.

 “This was early spring and a complete eyeopener for me. The bus travelled in a convoy of cars through Lapland on roads where there was snow higher than the local bus. I thought, Aussies have never seen something like this.” tells Bent Ronnov.

“We then included this route to HURTIGRUTEN daily sailings from Kirkenes to Bergen and operated these tours with daily guaranteed departures, said Bent.

In 1986 Bentours tours included Russia, Baltic States and Iceland, Greenland and The Faroe Islands and in 1998 Hurtigruten commenced 14-daycruises to Antarctica and The Fjords of Chile. This inclusion was a big transformation to the business.

Bentours was sold in 2003 to MyPlanet and Bent Ronnov and Judith Dryer left the company in 2006.

Bent spends his time between Denmark and Australia and have regular catch-ups with the old team members who, many of them, still work in the industry.