Johanna van Oeveren: Winner – Women Leader in Luxury Travel & Customized Experiences | International Women Awards 2026
- Great Companies
- Aug 25
- 8 min read
The 8th International Women Awards 2026 by Great Companies celebrates inspiring women leaders who are transforming their industries through entrepreneurship, innovation, expertise, and exceptional service.
Among this year's distinguished winners is Johanna van Oeveren, Founder and Owner of Holiday Planit, honored as the Winner – Women Leader in Luxury Travel & Customized Experiences.
Based in Reno, USA, Johanna has built an award-winning independent travel company around a simple but powerful philosophy: travel should be personal, effortless, and designed around the individual traveler.
Since founding Holiday Planit in 2014, she has grown the company into a multi-million-dollar travel business specializing in customized vacations, luxury travel, cruises, and group experiences. Her journey combines firsthand international travel experience, business expertise, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to personalized client service.
Company Overview
Founder: Johanna van Oeveren
Business: Holiday Planit
Location: Reno, USA
Established: 2014
Award Category: Luxury Travel & Customized Experiences
Industry: Travel Agency
Website: www.holidayplanit.com
Creating Travel Experiences, Not Just Itineraries
Holiday Planit was founded with a vision to create something entirely independent.
Without the backing of a franchise or host agency, Johanna built the company's brand, systems, training, and client experience from the ground up.
Today, Holiday Planit specializes in creating personalized travel experiences across a wide range of destinations and travel styles, including:
Luxury Travel
Customized Vacations
Luxury Cruises
Ocean & River Cruises
European Travel
Group Travel
Family Experiences
All-Inclusive Resorts
Rail Journeys
Spa & Wellness Retreats
Special Events
First Responder Travel
The company's philosophy is clear:
Travel should be designed around the traveler—not around a standard package.
Every journey begins with understanding what the client wants to experience and then creating the right combination of destination, accommodation, transportation, activities, and experiences.
What Makes Holiday Planit Different
The travel industry has changed dramatically with the growth of online booking platforms.
Travelers can now find thousands of destinations, hotels, cruises, tours, and reviews with a few clicks.
But having access to information does not necessarily make travel planning easier.
Holiday Planit's competitive advantage is the expertise and personal guidance it brings to the process.
The company does not simply book travel.
It helps clients make better decisions.
As an independent agency, Holiday Planit can recommend cruise lines, tour operators, destinations, and experiences based on what is genuinely appropriate for the individual client.
That client-first approach has helped the company grow into a multi-million-dollar business, with much of its new business coming from repeat clients and personal referrals.
A Luxury Travel Experience Built Around the Client
Luxury, for Johanna, is not simply about expensive hotels or premium cabins.
It is about how the entire experience feels.
Clients receive:
Personalized Travel Planning
Expert Destination Guidance
Dedicated Advisor Support
Concierge-Level Coordination
Access to Trusted Travel Partners
Exclusive Experiences
Support Before and During Travel
Carefully Designed Itineraries
From the first conversation through the return home, Holiday Planit's advisors remain available to guide travelers and handle the details behind the scenes.
The objective is to remove uncertainty so travelers can focus on enjoying the journey.
From Classical Dance to Global Travel
Johanna's passion for travel began through an unconventional career.
She started as a classical dancer, performing aboard cruise ships and experiencing destinations across Europe and around the world.
Those experiences gave her a firsthand appreciation for travel—not simply as tourism, but as a way to discover cultures, create memories, and experience the world.
After leaving the performing world, Johanna earned an MBA and entered a new chapter of her life.
She was managing student loans, raising twin children, and navigating the uncertainty of building a new career.
Yet her love of travel never disappeared.
The Travel Experience That Changed Her Career
A personal travel experience eventually became the inspiration for Holiday Planit.
While traveling in the Czech Republic, Johanna experienced an unexpected medical situation that required her to extend her stay.
She had booked the trip through a large online travel website.
When something went wrong, she discovered how difficult it was to receive meaningful help.
There were long hold times.
There was no dedicated person who understood her situation.
And she had no one personally advocating for her.
The experience made her realize something important:
Travelers should never feel alone when something unexpected happens.
She decided to become the kind of travel professional she wished she had during that experience.
What began as a small side business eventually evolved into an award-winning travel agency.
Designing the Perfect Journey
Holiday Planit's approach begins with understanding the traveler.
The team helps clients move from a dream to a fully designed journey through a simple process:
Start with a Dream.
Tell the advisor where you've always wanted to go.
Design Your Perfect Journey.
The team uses expertise, trusted connections, and destination knowledge to create the experience.
Travel Effortlessly.
Once the details are coordinated, clients can relax and enjoy the journey.
Whether the dream is a Mediterranean adventure, a European river cruise, an African safari, an all-inclusive escape, or a once-in-a-lifetime family experience, the itinerary is customized around the individual.
Luxury Cruise Expertise
Cruises are one of Holiday Planit's areas of specialization.
Johanna and her team help travelers navigate the many choices involved in selecting:
Cruise Lines
Ships
Staterooms
Destinations
Itineraries
Shore Excursions
Onboard Experiences
The company works across ocean and river cruising, including mainstream, premium, and luxury cruise lines.
Its expertise helps travelers avoid the uncertainty that can come from comparing countless options independently.
Instead, clients receive recommendations based on their travel preferences and expectations.
Creating Specialized Travel Communities
Johanna's innovation in customized travel extends beyond individual vacations.
She recognized that certain communities wanted to travel together around shared professional experiences and values.
That insight led her to create 1stResponderCruise.com.
The program offers hosted group cruises specifically for first responders and related professionals, including:
Firefighters
Law Enforcement Officers
EMS Professionals
Dispatchers
Correctional Officers
Healthcare Workers
Their Families
These journeys are designed to offer more than a vacation.
They create opportunities for camaraderie, shared experiences, and meaningful connections among people who understand one another's professional lives.
Today, Holiday Planit hosts multiple exclusive departures each year.
A Travel Company Built on Relationships
One of Holiday Planit's strongest assets is the relationship between the traveler and advisor.
The company has developed a growing team of experienced travel advisors supported by dedicated staff with specialized knowledge across destinations, travel styles, and unique experiences.
Clients can even be matched with the advisor best suited to their particular trip.
This creates a more personal alternative to large online booking platforms.
Instead of becoming another booking number, clients develop a relationship with someone who knows their preferences and can advocate for them when circumstances change.
Trust as a Growth Strategy
Much of Holiday Planit's growth has come through repeat business and referrals.
For Johanna, this is more than a marketing statistic.
It represents trust.
A client who returns for another trip is trusting the company with another important experience.
A client who refers a family member or friend is putting their own reputation behind that recommendation.
This relationship-driven model has allowed Holiday Planit to grow without losing the personalized service that defined the company from the beginning.
Building an Independent Business Without a Blueprint
One of Johanna's greatest entrepreneurial challenges was building an independent travel company without an established blueprint.
She did not have a franchise system to follow.
There was no turnkey model.
There was no established mentor providing every answer.
Every process, system, marketing strategy, and growth decision had to be researched, tested, refined, and sometimes rebuilt.
Entrepreneurship often meant making important decisions without knowing whether they would work.
Those experiences strengthened her:
Resilience
Adaptability
Decision-Making
Confidence
Business Judgment
They also taught her one of the most important lessons of her career:
The value of mentorship.
Helping Other Women Build Their Own Businesses
As Holiday Planit grew, Johanna's role evolved from entrepreneur to mentor.
She now invests significant energy in helping the next generation of travel professionals develop their own businesses.
Many of the advisors she mentors are women.
She provides them with the education, confidence, tools, encouragement, and practical knowledge needed to succeed as entrepreneurs.
For Johanna, watching another woman achieve financial independence and build a thriving business is one of the most rewarding outcomes of her own entrepreneurial journey.
Raising the Standard of Travel
Johanna's ambition extends beyond growing Holiday Planit.
She wants to raise the standard of professionalism within the travel industry.
That means creating travel advisors who are:
Knowledgeable
Ethical
Confident
Responsive
Client-Focused
Passionate About Travel
Holiday Planit has developed a team model in which clients benefit not only from one advisor but from the collective expertise and support of the organization.
Expertise Supported by Industry Access
Holiday Planit's independent expertise is complemented by professional industry relationships.
The company is a member of the Travel Leaders Network, giving clients access to preferred pricing, exclusive amenities, and specialized travel experiences.
It is also a member in good standing with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA).
These affiliations reinforce the company's commitment to professional standards, industry knowledge, and elevated travel service.
Helping People Turn "Someday" into Reality
At the heart of Johanna's work is a simple human truth:
People often postpone their dreams.
They tell themselves they will travel next year.
After retirement.
When work becomes less busy.
When the children are older.
When there is more time.
Johanna believes people should not indefinitely postpone the experiences that matter to them.
Holiday Planit's role is to help turn those dreams into realistic, carefully planned journeys.
Because travel is not simply about reaching a destination.
It is about the memories created along the way.
Advice for Women Entrepreneurs
Johanna's advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs begins with one powerful message:
Believe in yourself before anyone else does.
Women often underestimate their capabilities or wait until they feel completely ready.
Johanna believes confidence usually comes after action—not before it.
She encourages women to:
Dream Bigger
Take the First Step
Move Beyond Their Comfort Zone
Seek Mentors
Build Strong Relationships
Share Their Knowledge
Become Mentors Themselves
She also encourages women to ask:
"What would I pursue if I knew I couldn't fail?"
Then take the first step.
Some of the most meaningful milestones in her own journey began as ideas that initially felt beyond her comfort zone.
Creating a Legacy Through Travel
Johanna's vision for Holiday Planit is ultimately about more than creating exceptional vacations.
She wants to build a business that:
Creates unforgettable travel experiences.
Raises the standard of professional travel advising.
Builds long-term client relationships.
Creates opportunities for women.
Develops future travel entrepreneurs.
Gives people the confidence to pursue their travel dreams.
For Johanna, the greatest legacy is not simply the company she has built.
It is the people she helps along the way.
The Future
Holiday Planit continues to expand its customized and luxury travel services while strengthening its expertise in cruises, international destinations, specialized group experiences, and personalized travel planning.
The company's future priorities include:
Expanding customized luxury travel.
Growing specialized cruise experiences.
Developing first-responder travel programs.
Strengthening its nationwide client base.
Developing the next generation of travel advisors.
Creating more opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
Johanna's vision remains clear:
To make exceptional travel more personal, more effortless, and more meaningful—while building a company that creates opportunities for others to succeed.
Official Recognition
Johanna van Oeveren, Founder and Owner of Holiday Planit, has been honored as the Winner – Women Leader in Luxury Travel & Customized Experiences at the 8th International Women Awards 2026 by Great Companies.
The recognition celebrates her entrepreneurial journey, expertise in luxury and customized travel, commitment to personalized client experiences, innovation in specialized group travel, and contribution to raising the standard of professional travel services.
Her journey demonstrates that the best travel experiences are not simply purchased.
They are thoughtfully designed, personally understood, expertly coordinated, and remembered for a lifetime.
About the International Women Awards
The International Women Awards by Great Companies celebrates inspiring women entrepreneurs, founders, executives, professionals, and business leaders from around the world.
The awards recognize women who demonstrate leadership, innovation, resilience, business excellence, and meaningful contribution to their industries and communities.
Johanna van Oeveren's story reflects the spirit of the awards: dream boldly, build independently, serve exceptionally, and create experiences that make life richer and more memorable.