In the autumn of 2026, we’ll mark a major milestone here at Bob Rogers Travel – 45 years of serving educators and students!
We’re humbled to have reached this milestone, since few family-owned businesses get to celebrate this kind of longevity and growth. And we’re so thankful to the clients, partners, team members and friends that made it all possible.
As hard as it is to believe we’ve got 45 candles on our cake, we’re ready to celebrate all the ways we’ve grown. Let’s blow out these candles together!
Humble Beginnings, Big Vision
Today, we have a bustling home office and team members across the country. But it all started in a spare bedroom in the Chicago suburbs.
Our founder, Bob Rogers, was a veteran high school band director who had traveled with his own students. And he learned that traditional travel agents just didn’t grasp the logistics and idiosyncrasies of student performance travel.
A specialist was needed, and Bob decided he would be that specialist.
In 1981, he took his music education experience and his love of travel and created a company that would serve his colleagues and peers. Bob Rogers Travel was born, with his son’s percussion room pulling double-duty as its headquarters.
Since then, our vision hasn’t changed: we still exist to help educators bring their travel dreams to life. And it’s been our honor and our privilege to have planned over 10,000 trips for 750,000 student travelers – to all 50 states and over 30 countries.
“I did not ever conceive that it would grow to this magnitude,” Bob says. “The experiment so far has been a success.”
His vision also became a family affair. Today, Bob’s children Tami and Todd lead the team of 50+ travel professionals that make BRT what it is. “As we’ve grown, it’s been very important to us to maintain that family feel,” says Tami Rogers. “We want to be professional and approachable, never corporate or stuffy.”
Lasting Relationships
Ask Bob about the keys to BRT’s success, and he’s quick to reply: “That’s easy. Numbers 1 through 10 are relationships. Relationships!”
From the very first BRT trip, relationships have been at the heart of everything we do. Every traveling program is unique, with its own history, realities, goals and dreams. And we believe every group deserves a trip that’s customized to them – one that’s both “personal and purposeful,” as we like to say.
“Every day, we get to see how we impact the lives of our students and educators,” says Todd Rogers. “And we’re driven to give them everything we’ve got. We’re honored that so many of our clients have planned 5, 10 or even more trips with BRT.”
But we couldn’t do this work alone, and we’re also thankful for the deep connections we have across the industry. Our partnerships with organizations like the Student Youth Travel Association (SYTA), the National Tour Association (NTA), the National Band Association (NBA), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), American String Teachers Association (ASTA), American Bandmasters Association (ABA), the Conn-Selmer Institute and Music for All – plus many others – enable us to do our work at the highest level.
Because so many good things happen at the state level, we’re proud to be an active supporter of over 30 music education conferences and organizations.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t give a shout-out to all the amazing attractions, performance venues and clinicians that we’ve partnered with over the years. Last year alone, we sent students to over 90 destinations around the world – and in every one of them, there are professionals working hard to deliver eye-opening experiences to our student travelers.
Singular Focus, Countless Opportunities
Over our 45 years of travel planning, we’ve maintained our sharp focus on student performance travel. But we’ve consistently expanded the opportunities we offer to our traveling groups – from new destinations to new attractions and performance opportunities.
Back in 2009, we sensed an opportunity to provide marching bands with a fresh alternative in their performing calendars. In partnership with the bright minds at Disney Imagination Campus, we developed and launched the Thanksgiving Parade of Bands, which has become a holiday tradition. With a performance in front of Cinderella Castle, a live webcast, and a celebratory Thanksgiving dinner, it’s one of our favorite days of the year.
And in 2023, we were honored to reimagine the Ambassadors of Music program, a fifteen-day music-focused tour of five European countries offered to talented student musicians by nomination. Now in 20 states and counting, this once-in-a-lifetime experience dovetails with Bob’s original vision and our commitment to “making moments that matter.”
A Bright Future
So, what’s next? We’ve always got ideas brewing and we can’t wait to share them with you. Those ideas, plans, and dreams will be built on the foundation that our founder laid so many years ago – a commitment to our clients that we will make travel planning simple, seamless and fun, so they can focus on their students and the music.
From our completely customized itineraries that maximize students’ exposure to new destinations, to our simple and seamless BRT Payments system that takes the stress and hassle of payments off their hands – everything we do is meant to make travel worry-free. And because we partner with our groups from the initial travel idea through the return trip home, our clients return to us year after year with new students to impact. And that’s our dream come true.
Thank you for celebrating with us! Our story is nothing without the many clients, partners, and friends that have helped us grow. How can we partner with you to show your students the world? Contact us today – we’d love to help write the next chapter in your program’s story.
