About
Benefactor Travel was founded in 1993 by Athlyn Fitz-James and Thomas Hamilton. They continue to lead the company overseeing a highly talented staff fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Dutch. Our team also has expertise in the fields of art, architecture, history, music, dance, wine and gastronomy.
BT is the only cultural travel company to have staff on both sides of the Atlantic and this makes a huge difference in terms of up-to-date information, ongoing knowledge, trip quality, daily responsiveness to clients and also price. Living in Europe and being close to the product ensures that we are always on the cutting edge in terms of private collections, exhibitions, performance schedules, emerging artists and the best hotels and restaurants to enhance your program.
But we are also close to you. Our BT Office in the Eastern Standard time zone can be reached at 800-801-6147. Since the company’s inception, Dale Grzegorczyck manages the office and answers all questions and handles all mailings, travelers' assistance, program registration, payment and insurance. Our BT team look after all the details and questions that crop up daily so that you can concentrate on running your institution.
Marieke Peleman is in charge of Museum Relations and is located in the Boston area. If you would like to discuss a destination, talk about a potential program or receive a proposal, she can telephone or arrange a face-to-face meeting. You can reach her there at 508-736-0053.
Athlyn Fitz-James
Co-Founder
Athlyn holds an M.Phil degree in the history of art with a thesis written in Siena, Italy. She taught The History of Medieval Renaissance Art in Toronto, Florence, Siena and Venice and has been involved with organizing cultural travel since 1977. Athlyn speaks fluent English, French and Italian as well as reasonable Spanish.
Thomas Hamilton
Co-Founder
Thomas holds an Honors degree in English Literature and an LLB. He practiced corporate law for a very short period of time before switching into the luxury travel field in 1982 and starting to focus on Asian contemporary art. Tom speaks fluent English, French and Italian.
Dale Grzegorczyk
President
Dale is an expert in the cultural travel business, helping thousands of people with their trips all over the world since 1987. From the inception of Benefactor Travel, Dale has run the North American Office and is the point person for all trip enquiries, websites, finance, administration and billing.
Marieke Peleman
Director, Museum Relations
Marieke grew up in Belgium where she completed her MA in Sinology at the University of Ghent. Marieke has been designing and leading international cultural travel programs since 1989 and speaks fluent English, Dutch, French, Italian and German.
The Executive Team is complemented by our diverse group of Trip Managers whose talents and expertise are matched to the groups’ specific needs and the trip destinations.