VANCOUVER — Top executives from Goway Travel recently flew to a special retirement dinner at the Seasons in the Park Restaurant in Vancouver to wish farewell to Goway’s longest and most loyal employee, Marilyn Bryson.

Bryson joined the long-haul air and land specialist in the very early days, when in 1973 she was the first employee of Founder and President Bruce Hodge. She didn’t know how to type at the time, but Hodge said he was impressed that she’d travelled overland between England and India, and her pleasant telephone voice was perfect for a fledgling company looking to make an impression back in the days before email and the Internet.

Back then Goway specialized in camping tours in Europe and Australia, as well as overland journeys across Asia, Africa and throughout South America. Eight years later, the company “was growing tremendously”, and saw a huge opportunity to be an all-Canadian wholesaler, when Marilyn spearheaded Goway’s second office, in Vancouver in the back of a Travel Cuts agency at the UBC campus.

Goway now maintains a much larger office in the city, but Bryson’s legacy is immense, says Hodge. “Marilyn single-handedly built the foundations and the infrastructure for Goway to be the major wholesaler we are today in the western time zone of Canada and the U.S.” said Hodge. “We at Goway owe a lot to Marilyn, and we’ll all be sad to see her go when she officially retires on Dec. 17.”

Goway Travel is a privately owned travel company based in Toronto, with 45 years experience in long-haul travel and a loyal staff made up of over 42 nationalities.