meet the pilots
André Hesselink
André Hesselink
Co-CEO
Flying and traveling are my ideal combination. Like my co-pilot, I like to fly. Though not in an airplane but as a paraglider pilot. There is virtually nothing that comes close to the excitement of flying all by yourself in the open air. Imagine flying at an altitude of 6000 feet in complete silence with the Mont Blanc in the background and circling slowly back to that little alpine village... It doesn't get any better than that.
Apart from paragliding I like to constantly find new challenges, from the New York marathon to climbing the Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The same challenge I can find in traveling. Whether it be trekking in Ecuador, Kayaking in Botswana, or biking in China. It is really amazing to see how different distant places and people are from what you thought they were. Everywhere in the world I have experienced warm and welcoming people and I have many favorite places that I want to go back to, but my favorite destination is the Island of Bali. There you can really find everything one is looking for, whether it is 5 star luxury resorts or a simple bed and breakfast. That combined with the people, the food, the culture, the landscape, the beaches, and the activities, I could go on and on.
André Hesselink
Co-CEO
Andre Hesselink, a 20+-year travel industry veteran, is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Vayama.com.
Prior to launching Vayama.com, Andre co-founded Airtrade Holding B.V. (www.airtrade.nl), which today is a $400 million Dutch provider of advanced international travel products and services. After starting the company with Wim Butte in 1989, Andre served as Co-CEO for 13 years, including after they sold the company in 1998 to BCD Holdings (www.bcd-nv.com). BCD Holdings is a privately owned Dutch company that includes BCD Travel, Park N Fly, TRX and other successful travel brands in the United States and in 96 countries around the world. BCD Holdings also tapped Andre to be Co-CEO of Airtrade Holding B.V.'s sister company in the U.S., Airtrade International Inc, which launched in 2005.
Andre began his career at Travel Trend, an airline wholesaler in the Netherlands, where he served as Manager of Reservations, overseeing the reservation department. Andre first met Wim Butte in 1987 when they both worked at Travel Trend.
Andre received his bachelor's degree from the University of Tourism in Netherlands. He currently lives in Los Gatos, California.
Tanmay Kar
Tanmay Kar
CFO
"Just do it" has been the way for me to get out of planned routines and have fun, be at work or outside. I often get out hiking, driving or playing Tennis. Hiking has been a fun experience, be it on concrete or dirt, in the sun or in the fog. I prefer doing more urban hiking as the streets and trails of San Francisco provide moderate level of challenges and diverse experiences. In addition to the social and cultural benefits in an urban hiking it is a great way to know about a place block by block. I am still working on my mountain hiking skills and expect to spend few weeks trekking in Penta Arena, Chile and Kathmandu, Nepal; two of my favorite places to visit.
As I silently observe the planes take off or land bringing people thousand miles apart together, I often confound with the thoughts of one world. The more I travel, the more I learn that regardless what the history might suggest, people all around the world are very warm and welcoming to each other. Once upon a time I enjoyed serving as a volunteer leader building mud houses for a tribal community in Sarang, a remote village in India. I wonder what we could be doing better that may unite people and places and eradicate hate and terrorism from the planet. As I have learnt, making an effort to travel is just a starting point..!
Tanmay Kar
CFO
Tanmay Kar, battle tested and with over 16 years of experience in business leads the finance, administration and legal functions for vayama. In addition he also oversees vayama's India operations. Prior to his role in vayama, Tanmay led finance and administrative functions at BigFix, an enterprise security and configuration management software company.
Before BigFix, Tanmay performed as CFO at IT Ascent, a technology solution provider focusing on business intelligence and enScaler, an enterprise content management software company. Tanmay's entrepreneurial career began early on while starting with the founding team member at Sterlite Telecom's optical technology venture in Aurangabad, India where he was instrumental in launching fiber optics products built for the first time in India
Tanmay received an MBA degree in Finance and Investment Management from Fisher College of Business, the Ohio State University. He also has a master's degree in pollution control and clean technologies and a bachelor's degree in engineering from IGIT, India. He is an active member of the Finance Executive International, San Francisco chapter and acts as a board member of Fugen Solutions, Inc. an identity management software company. Tanmay currently lives in San Francisco, California.
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