International trip planner calls Springville home

BY JOSH SIEGEL
Times-Shamrock Writer

Hennie Van Den Hengel loved riding bicycles through her native home in the Netherlands. When she moved to the United States after 35 years, she opened Tripsite, a foreign tour broker business, in Springville with her daughter, Gea, to help others get the same experience that she had.

That was in 1999. 16 years later Tripsite has expanded to include tours from 42 different countries in Europe and Asia, as well as adding two more Van Den Hengals, Carla and Jan, to the owner’s table.

According to Jan, the chief operating manager of Tripsite, many of the touring companies in Europe are small operations. Too small, in fact, to be effectively heard in the United States.

“They don’t have the visibility, or even the ability to market themselves,” Jan said.

Tripsite acts as a broker that connects these small operations to people who are looking for bicycle or boat tour vacations.

“It’s a wonderful way to see a place and really experience it,” Jan said, “It’s a way to take a vacation without being gluttonous and gaining ten pounds.”

I think that what you experience is–its addicting,” added Carla Van Den Hengel, the chief customer officer.

On Tripsite you can either book a casual 4-8 day bike trip through the Alentejo region of Portugal or a grueling six day ride through the Alps or any other combination of skill level, distance, and area of interest. Despite the multitudes of tours available, the Van Den Hengel family isn’t worried about their quality.

“We don’t just put anyone on the list,” Jan said, “We’re pretty stringent.”

“We have either biked in the area ourselves or we are so familiar with the operator that we trust their product,” Carla added.

Currently Tripsite’s business comes mainly from North America, but the Van Den Hengels are looking to change that.

According to Jan, they are already the number one return for Portuguese and Spanish language internet searches on bike tours.

“I would love to see us grow in more continents and offer tours in America,” Carla said.

Tripsite can be found at Tripsite.com or reached by calling 877-965-2064.