Meet our experienced team of tour hosts
Guests on our YOURTours exclusive travel itineraries are always accompanied by one of our own YOURTours Hosts. Our hosts are there to support you throughout your holiday experience, and that includes even before you travel!
All our guest's individual requests are sent through to our YOURTours Hosts as soon as we know about them, and behind the scenes, your host will be planning and researching well before you travel to ensure you get the experience you are looking for. Whether you are looking for somewhere to purchase new glasses on tour or want to look up someone you stumbled across on your family tree investigations, our hosts are there doing their very best to accommodate.
During the tour our YOURTours Hosts are working in ‘real-time’ with our airline partners, local guides, drivers, and hoteliers to ensure plans run smoothly and that our groups are getting the very best possible of service at all times. They are also a point of contact for guests 24/7 and obviously a great travel companion too.
It’s not uncommon for YOURTours hosts to arrange a group get together before you travel too, this is a great opportunity to ask questions and meet fellow tour members. If you can’t make it, no problem, our hosts are on hand to arrange a Skype call or phone call at a time that suits you.
YOURTours Hosts are all well-travelled industry professionals and handpicked by us for their skills, professionalism, and of course personality. Their duty of care to our guests is our priority and that's why we tend not to enlist well-known household names to accompany our tours, but our own YOURTours people, people we know, love, and wholeheartedly trust. We are very proud of our passionate team of YOURTours Hosts.
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Peter Roddam
Peter’s number one focus has always been and always will be people and quality – you and our product. Whether you are lucky enough to be on a tour that Peter himself will be hosting, or with another YOURTours Host, you can be assured that he will be involved operationally from start to finish, ensuring that you get the very best of service, quality and experiences.
Peter stated he couldn’t possibly spend all of his time in the office designing and planning tour itineraries as much as it gives him amazing pleasure. Being out and about (ideally somewhere fascinating), talking to people and groups, sharing stories, learning from each other and sharing best industry practices is what brings him the most joy, which in turn helps inspire his creative side.
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Peter is a well-known within the travel, tourism and hospitality industry internationally and is also a certified International Tour Director, having gained his qualification in America with the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI). He has the honour of been awarded Fellowship status from the Institute of Hospitality, for his continued dedication to the industry and people development globally.
Peter says ‘At YOURTours our aim is to provide an opportunity for more and more people to access and enjoy the beauty of hosted small group travel, and the lifelong memories and friendships that come hand in hand with each and every tour. We really do become a family.’
Tanya Roddam
You would be hard pushed to find anyone who cares more about your tour than Tanya, with her number one focus being customer satisfaction.
Tanyas attention to detail and friendly approach when you are tour with her is something our repeat touring guests often comment on.
Having a vast amount of experience with airlines, tour operators, travel agencies, and international event management, means Tanya has a wealth of experience and knowledge she can draw on at any moment to ensure your tour is the trip of a lifetime.​
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Mavis Sager
Mavis began her career in the Hotel industry, followed by time with Air New Zealand and 3 years working in the U.K. for charter airlines as Customer Service Manager.
After completion of an intensive Tour Manager training course in London, Mavis toured Europe extensively as a Tour Manager. Upon her return to New Zealand Mavis completed further training with Atlantic and Pacific Travel, escorting London Shoppe tours from New Zealand to London visiting Los Angeles, Singapore, Tokyo, and Vancouver.
Mavis enjoyed travelling the world with her husband and also had the opportunity of living in both California and the U.K. Her interests include singing, photography, and art. She is presently involved with the local Operatic Society singing at functions, variety, and charity shows.
Mavis is always available to help and with her first-hand knowledge and experience of many destinations is able to offer invaluable advice. Above all she has the outstanding attribute of being a people person.
If you want a “Trouble -Free” holiday why not join Mavis from “Take- off” to “Touch – Down” you will be well looked after.
Fiona Mitchell-Robb
Fiona has been working consistently as a travel consultant, tour designer and tour host within the industry as her career, and you can find her today at YOURTravel & YOURTours, still with the same passion, dedication, and enthusiasm she first started out with, within the industry.
Favourite Country to Visit: Vietnam
Leigh Bartlett
Leigh has a wealth of experience hosting tours, including having hosted touring groups visiting from the UK to New Zealand to follow the Rugby World Cup and various Lions tours.
Having now returned home to New Zealand and working with us at YOURTravel, allows Leigh to pass on her amazing travel knowledge to our clients with their travel bookings, along with the opportunity to still keep her hand in with hosting with YOURTours along the way.
Kaari Martin
A 3-month tour travelling independently through Europe, opened Kaari’s eyes, heart and spirit giving her a passion for worldwide exploration. She is well travelled, having explored different cultures and destinations including 10 European countries, New Zealand, Morocco, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Thailand, Mexico, Canada and 40 of the 50 states in the US, with Alaska being her all-time favourite.
Along with her travel experiences, Kaari graduated from the International Tour Management Institute, making her an exceptionally experienced International Tour Host. Kaari's ultimate goal, is to ensure that her guests have the experience of a lifetime and create memories that will brighten every day going forward.
Kaari quotes the words of Oscar Wilde "Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets"
Diane Ashburner
Diane is a travel professional with a rare combination of talent, customer service and dedication. After spending many years in the corporate world, business took her to live in Dominican Republic and China where she was involved with an international school and escorted student sports teams throughout Asia, and was President of an international women’s club as well as a fully certified ITMI Tour Director.
She has managed many tours within the USA and has vast knowledge of the Antebellum South from extensive travel along the Mississippi River, which also feeds her love of blues and jazz music and local cuisine. Her expertise extends to Nashville, New Orleans, Memphis, St Louis, California, Canada and the Northwest, including sailing the Columbia River. Diane assists as Tour Manager with a steamboat cruising company during peak travel season.
She has in-depth knowledge of Asia, and in particular, China, where she lived and traveled extensively for 9 years.
Diane’s focus is on offering guests an exceptional travel experience tailored to interests and exceeding expectations.
Dan Kemper
Dan's passion has always been travel, which lead to him attaining his certificate as a Masters International Tour Director with the International Tour Management Institute.
Dan is committed to bringing cultures together by showing our similarities rather than our differences and enjoys nothing more than applying his knowledge of the local area and hospitality to ensure a fully immersive travel experience for our guests.
Andrew Lennox
After a long and respected career in hospitality and event management around the globe, Andrew settled back home in Kapiti to become a travel professional nearly 12 years ago.
Fortunate enough to have visited all 7 continents and over 90 countries, he is always eager to share his wealth of knowledge and experiences. Andrew was an Executive Chef, so when on tour he just loves finding opportunities to sample the local cuisines of the regions he is visiting. "Many of my most rewarding travel memories will involve a shared meal with fellow travellers, enjoying our new found friendship".
