Chris Hakim

Chris Hakim is a visionary founder and the CEO of Wingbuddy, a trailblazing travel company redefining the art of vacation planning. Chris' journey began in 2012, when he sensed a gap in the market while working as VP Marketing and Business Development in his family's traditional brick-and-mortar travel agency - Voyages Routair. Driven by a passion for efficiency, he launched Wingbuddy to reinvent the way tour and cruise packages are offered for both simple getaways and elaborate journeys, inspiring North Americans to maximize their travel experiences with Wingbuddy’s turnkey global options. Chris believes that the sheer size of the travel industry and increased fragmentation within the industry provides a lot of opportunities to optimize and improve the experience for travellers both at the booking stage and at the destination. Hence, he is dedicated to building and promoting rich and hassle-free packages to worldwide destinations instead of being on the commodity side selling flights, hotels, or other suppliers' packages. Chris is as passionate about travel as he is about the travel industry and remains steadfast in his commitment to impeccable customer service for clients and partners, while also cultivating a thriving work environment for Wingbuddy's growing team members. Chris is dedicated to the growth of his team and obsessed with providing the most pleasant work environment for them. His vision and drive to provide accessible and effortless travel is further strengthened by the distinguished travel experiences Wingbuddy’s passengers share. From the flexibility of Freedom Packages to the structure of Organized Tour Packages and the luxury of all-inclusive Cruise Packages, the overarching objective remains consistent: inspiring and enabling North Americans to embark on superior and more frequent journeys, all facilitated through a streamlined "one-booking process”. With a relentless pursuit of innovation, strategic investments in technology, customer service, and operational optimization, Chris' leadership steered Wingbuddy's evolution from a start-up to a distinguished tour operator of choice across North America, amassing a happy and growing clientele. Chris's people-centric approach played a pivotal role, nurturing a high-performing team and fostering enduring customer relationships, as Wingbuddy continues to scale.