51 years, 100+ professionals and a new award: the people behind Bon Voyage Travel's Next chapter

For Bon Voyage Travel Agency Limited (BVT), the answer goes beyond destinations, tickets, and hotel bookings. It is people, relationships and the ability to evolve. 

The company was named Nigeria's Leading Travel Management Company 2026 at the World Travel Awards Gala in Zanzibar. BVT has built its business on travel expertise, client relationships, technology and a workplace culture designed to keep its people engaged. 

Today, Bon Voyage Travel (BVT) has more than 100 trained travel professionals working across business travel, leisure and tours, visa advisory, protocol and related travel services. Its client base includes more than 200 corporate organisations in sectors such as finance, government and oil and gas. 

The story began with Mrs Loretta Smith, who founded the company in 1975. More than five decades later, her son, Yemi Smith, leads BVT as Managing Director, carrying the business through a changing travel industry. 

The World Travel Awards recognition is more than a new accolade for the company. It is another milestone in a legacy that has passed from one generation of leadership to the next. 

BVT is also listed by Great Place To Work Nigeria as a certified organisation with 100 per cent of surveyed employees describing the company as a great place to work. The assessment recorded positive employee responses in areas including training and development, management appreciation and workplace experience. “For us, being recognised as a Great Place To Work is meaningful because it reflects how our people genuinely feel about our workplace,” said Ms Oyinlola Elewa, Human Resources Manager. 

At Bon Voyage Travel, that culture includes team-building activities, professional skills development, knowledge-sharing sessions, employee recognition, workplace exercises and Friday games. 

This people-first approach has helped the company retain the human support clients value, even as the tools and expectations surrounding travel have changed. 

Smith credits the company’s staff with sustaining the founder’s standard. 

“My mother built this company on one simple promise: that every client, whether a CEO or a first-time traveller, would be looked after properly,” Smith said. “Fifty-one years later, the tools have changed, but the promise hasn’t, and neither have the people who keep it. There is much more to come, especially for our corporate clients.” 

After 51 years in business, BVT’s story is not simply about how travel has changed. It is about how a Nigerian company has continued to evolve with its clients, its people and the industry while carrying forward the legacy of its founder.

The award marks another step towards BVT’s vision of becoming Nigeria’s travel management company of choice, with its people carrying that ambition into the company’s next chapter. 

Corporate organisations and travel agencies interested in working with BVT can request a free Corporate Travel Audit at www.bvtng.com. Each submission will receive a callback and a proposal tailored to its travel-management or consolidator needs. 

Founded in 1975 by Mrs Loretta Smith, Bon Voyage Travel Agency Limited is a Nigerian travel management company providing corporate, leisure, and vacation travel management services. Its services include corporate travel, leisure and tours, hotels, visa and immigration services, corporate events, marine and energy travel, transfers and logistics, and 24/7 travel support. BVT is the ATPI network partner in Nigeria and also operates as a travel service consolidator, giving other travel agencies access to its infrastructure, technology platforms and global network. 

Media and Business Enquiries 

Bon Voyage Travel Agency Limited 

Website: www.bvtng.com 

Email: info@bvtng.com 

Telephone: 07000288288

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