Tour Director Profile: Thibault Heinkens | Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France

A lifelong love of cultural learning led Belgian tour director Thibault Heinkens into his chosen profession. Before becoming a tour director, Thibault earned three master’s degrees in European political science – one in International Relations and Diplomacy from Ghent University, a joint degree in European Studies from Ghent University and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain, and another in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges.

"This is the statue commemorating the 14th-century battle between the Flemish and the French in Markt Square in Bruges. My great-grandfather's name (and thus also my family name) is on there."

Initially drawn to a life in politics, Thibault realized that his passion lay elsewhere, and pivoted to leading tours in 2019. Thibault brings an unmatched degree of expertise to his Western Europe trips, and his guests receive a world-class educational experience under his tutelage – while also enjoying a significant amount of fun.

Always looking to have a good time, Thibault brings his group the gift of a massive croissant

Thibault delights in showing his guests “anything they won’t learn from a guide book” – but his love of leading tours doesn’t stop there: “Getting to know new people, presenting niche cultural facts, watching people’s reactions when they see something beautiful for the first time… too much to name!”

“Thibault made the tour for us. His level of creativity, spontaneity, organization and friendliness were exceptional. The number one reason why we have been repeat guests with Odysseys is the quality of tour directors you provide. We would literally go anywhere with Thibault.”
– Dr. Ronald Weishaar, Chatham, MA

One of Thibault's most memorable quirks: his love of silly socks:

I wear silly socks most of the days on tour and I also try to make them correspond to the theme of the day (e.g. Monet socks for the visit of Giverny).  It was just a way to bring some more fun to my outfits (my business casual look on tour doesn't exactly match my personal style in my free time), but guests became enchanted with them, so I just kept going. I get on average one pair of socks on tour from guests.

Thibault's van Gogh socks

Jogging, swimming, biking, and backpacking count among Thibault’s off-tour hobbies, and he spends his spare time brushing up on his six(!) languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian.

"In this group, we had 4 Lindas (a constant source of hilarious confusion), so for the farewell dinner one lady had made 'Linda' name tags for everyone."

To explore Europe with Thibault, or one of our other experienced and engaging tour directors, explore all of our tours to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg here.