From a Twente idea to a global company: Geert-Jan Bruinsma receives the Van den Kroonenberg Lifetime Achievement Award

Every day, millions of people around the world book hotels through Booking.com. What is less well known is that the idea for the platform originated in Twente nearly thirty years ago. From a small office on the University of Twente campus, alumnus Geert-Jan Bruinsma laid the foundations for what would become one of the world’s largest travel platforms.

On 31 August, during the Opening of the Academic Year, Bruinsma will receive the Van den Kroonenberg Lifetime Achievement Award. It is an honour he deeply appreciates. “I truly feel honoured. I’ve never sought the spotlight, but it’s wonderful that the University of Twente has never lost sight of me all these years.”

More than a degree

Bruinsma studied Industrial Engineering and Management, but his student years extended far beyond the lecture halls. He was active in both his student and study associations, played hockey, and was involved with the international student organisation AIESEC. Through AIESEC, he spent nine months in Malaysia and carried out his graduation project in Africa.

“Of course, I learned a great deal during my studies. But everything around my degree shaped me just as much. I constantly found myself in new situations and worked with people from different backgrounds. Looking back, that broad personal development may have been the most valuable part.”

An idea born in Twente

After graduating in 1994, Bruinsma was given the opportunity to develop his own business through the TOP programme, based at the Business & Technology Centre on the UT campus. He knew one thing for certain: he wanted to become an entrepreneur and build something using the emerging internet. Booking was not his first idea, but his third.

The breakthrough came during dinner with friends. A conversation about a disappointing holiday led him to wonder why it was so difficult to find reliable information about hotels before travelling. The following day, from his office in Enschede, he investigated whether such a website already existed. Hardly anyone was doing it. “It was the result of a year of experimenting, trying things out and learning. Without the freedom to develop ideas, Booking would probably never have come into existence.”

Step outside your comfort zone

Bruinsma hopes today’s students will make the most of that same spirit of experimentation. His advice is to see university as more than a place to earn a degree. “If your studies are going well, challenge yourself outside the classroom. Join an association, spend time abroad, organise something, or start your own project. That’s where you really develop yourself.”

Making mistakes is part of that process, he believes. “This is the time in your life when you can afford to fall flat on your face a few times. That’s how you learn. And when things do work out afterwards, the success is all the more rewarding.” Would he choose the University of Twente again? “Without a doubt. I had an amazing time there.”

About the Van den Kroonenberg Lifetime Achievement Awards

To mark the University of Twente’s 65th anniversary, the Van den Kroonenberg Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented for the first time during the Opening of the Academic Year on 31 August. The awards honour four UT alumni who, as founders or driving forces, played a defining role in the development of internationally leading technology companies. Alongside Geert-Jan Bruinsma, the awards will also be presented to Jitse Groen (Just Eat Takeaway.com), Sytse Sijbrandij (GitLab) and Martin van den Brink (ASML).