Rachel Hardy

In one way or another, I have been involved with The Society of International Railway Travelers® all my life.

Our family-owned company was born in 1983 — 4 years before I was born. So we grew up together, and I have grown up traveling.

In 2015, I joined the company as Luxury Travel Advisor and Vice President, Sales & Marketing. My first trip as an official representative of IRT was on the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada.

In 2016, I completed the Virtuoso Certified Travel Advisor (VCTA) program.

In 2018, I was honored to be just one of eight travel advisors in the world (and the only one from the Western Hemisphere) invited on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for the grand unveiling of the Grand Suites (read my blog post about the Grand Suites.)

(We are also especially proud to be the world leaders in Grand Suite bookings. We have more knowledge of the product than any other agency.)

I was also nominated as a Rising Star in Virtuoso Cruise Sales in 2018.

In 2019, I traveled to the UK and Ireland as a guest of the prestigious Belmond Bellini Club of which our agency is a member. I loved the Belmond Grand Hibernian, the five-star Adare Manor, and the warm and inviting Merrion Hotel in Dublin.

When not testing out trains for IRT guests, I also enjoy active adventure travel (ask me about explora lodge in Patagonia, Chile — or about my experience with Micato Safaris in Kenya) and hiking with my partner Nate and my sweet dog Luna.

If you’d like me to arrange a Grand Suite for you on the VSOE for a luxury European vacation, or arrange a special trip to Canada, or if you have any specific queries about marketing at IRT, please get in touch at rhardy@irtsociety.com.