Omega World Travel

Biography

Gloria Bohan is the founder and president of Omega World Travel, a leader in the travel industry, including the corporate and government travel sectors. Ms. Bohan founded Omega World Travel in 1972 and has transformed it into a global travel management company with annual sales over $1 billion, making it the largest woman-owned and operated agency. In 1998, she founded Cruise.com, now one of the leading internet cruise retailers. At that time, she also introduced TravTech, a travel software development company. Ms. Bohan is a leading figure in the world of woman-owned business, receiving accolades such as the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame, Office Depot's Business Woman of the Year, and one of the 25 most influential leaders in the travel industry by Tour and Travel News. Gloria Bohan was named the godmother of Windstar's Star Legend, a 212-passenger ship in the Windstar fleet, in 2015, and was selected to serve as Godmother to the Riviera River Cruises’ MS Robert Burns in 2018. As an entrepreneurial leader in the industry, Gloria Bohan has built an organizational reputation for expertise, quality service, and innovative technology in the corporate, government, meetings, cruise, and leisure markets.

Early Life
Gloria Spinelli Bohan was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in 1942 to Michael and Lillian Spinelli. The younger of two daughters, Gloria and her sister Lucille enjoyed a life filled with family and music. Her mother had an early career as a harpist and pianist.
Read More ▽
Her father, the son of an Italian restaurant owner pursued a different career as an accountant at the Two Rector Street Corporation, for over 40 years. Some of Gloria’s fondest memories were frequent walks along Shore Road, trips to Radio City, the museums, and Yankee Stadium, where she and Lucille would wait to see some of the iconic Yankee players leave after the games.
Close △
Education
As a teenager, Gloria attended Fontbonne Hall Academy. Despite the comforts of life in Brooklyn, Gloria set her sights on the big city across the bay when it came time for college; she started at Marymount Manhattan College in 1959.
Read More ▽
It was the beginning of her New York life. Gloria graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 1963, after studying English Literature and Education/Art. She later received a Doctor of Laws from MMC.
Close △
Life and Career
Gloria Bohan started her career by teaching English to junior high school students in Bedford/Stuyvesant, but her dream to work in Manhattan came true with a position as assistant to the art director at Forbes Magazine.
Read More ▽

In 1970, she married Dan Bohan, and the two took a honeymoon cruise on Cunard Cruise Line’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2). One year later, Gloria and Dan celebrated their anniversary on the same ship. Gloria fell in love with the travel industry on this cruise after speaking with many travel agents on board. As a result, she opened the first Omega World Travel office in 1972 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

She recognized many opportunities to grow her company by diversifying offerings and opening offices wherever her customers needed her. Further enhancing customer service, she opened one of the first 24-hour company-owned reservation centers in 1978. In 1982, her company won one of the first official government travel management awards, and pioneered the future of government travel services. In 1995, she opened her first European headquarters in London, England, to serve clients across the United Kingdom and Europe. In the late 1990s, Bohan introduced Cruise.com, now one of the internet’s largest cruise specialists, and TravTech, Omega’s software development company.
Close △
Awards and Accomplishments
Her list of accolades also includes
  • The Washington Business Hall of Fame
  • American Society of Travel Agents’ Travel Agent of the Year Award
  • One of the 25 Most Influential Leaders in the Travel Industry by Tour and Travel News
  • One of the Most Powerful Women in Washington by Washingtonian Magazine
  • Office Depot's Business Woman of the Year
  • Lifetime Achievement Award and Doctor of Laws from Marymount Manhattan College.
Gloria is active in multiple organizations, including
  • The World Affairs Council and Enterprising Women Foundation
  • The Zenith Group and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
  • A sponsor of Junior Achievement
  • She serves as the Godmother of Windstar Cruises’ Star Legend and Riviera River Cruises’ MS Robert Burns
Charitable Contributions
The Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation offers grants that support college level and business entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, and advancements in medical sciences. The Foundation supports:
• Medical research in traumatic brain injury
• ASTA Entrepreneur of the Year program
• Enterprising Women Foundation