About Dan Austin

Dan Austin, Owner and Director of Austin-Lehman Adventures

Born and bred into the outdoor life in the hills of California, Dan ignited his passion for adventure travel in 1976 as a partner of a rafting company in the Pacific Northwest. His travels soon took him to Alaska, where he owned and operated a mid-size construction company. Here he gained valuable experience working out difficult logistics and long-distance problem solving. His company completed projects from the most remote Alaskan village to the military bases of Hawaii and The Azores.

Looking for a new challenge and having experienced small group adventure travel as a guest, Dan and a partnership group bought Backcountry Tours of Bozeman, Montana in 1994. Established a decade earlier, Backcountry Tours was a well recognized purveyor of small group, multisport tours throughout the western United States. The foundation was laid.

The purchase of Backcountry turned out to be the catalyst for things to come. In 2000 Dan partnered up with retired industrialist and financier Paul Lehman and changed the name to Austin-Lehman Adventures.

As fulltime Director, Dan was responsible for growing the brand and developing Austin-Lehman Adventures into a respected and recognized player in the international travel marketplace.

2008 saw significant expansion at ALA with the purchase of Euro-Bike and Walking Tours, who in 1974 became the first U.S. bike tour company to establish operations in Europe. The acquisition successfully added 34 years of bike tour expertise and legacy to the Austin-Lehman brand.

In 2009 Dan’s life passion and hard work was richly rewarded when his company was named the “Best Tour Operator in the World” by Travel + Leisure magazine readers. Dan and ALA have managed to stay at the very top of this prestigious list every year since that first year, hitting #1 in Family Travel again in 2012.

The fall of 2010 saw yet another well earned opportunity come Dan’s way as he and his wife Carol were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to purchase 100% of Austin Lehman Adventures. His partner Paul wanted a chance to pursue more personal adventures in his life.

Success to Dan has always meant more than accomplishments in the business world. In 2010 Dan found a way to pay it forward and leverage his success for the good of others. He took on a new challenge and established the not-for profit Wheels of Change by launching its first chapter in Billings, Montana. Starting with 125 of his own bikes, Dan, his family and friends collected over 200 additional donated bikes and shipped them along with a container full of tools and school supplies to the remote village of Ngoma, Namibia. Dan and his son Andy were there for the unveiling and helped establish a Bicycle Empowerment Center by turning the container into an active “Bike Shop” while training a crew of locals on how to operate and manage it. In the fall of 2011, just when a second shipment of bikes was arriving in Kenya, Austin-Lehman Adventures was recognized by a distinguished panel of international judges and awarded the Global Vision Award for Corporate Innovation by the editors of Travel + Leisure magazine. Into the future, Wheels of Change will continue its efforts to gather and ship donated bicycles to Africa while expanding its initiatives and community development projects worldwide. In 2012 Dan and ALA hosted a delegation of 14 Namibians in Montana, sharing first hand their efforts regarding sustainable tourism.

Dan lives in Billings, Montana with his family who, like Dan, also embrace an active lifestyle. When not in the office managing Austin-Lehman Adventures’ day to day business, the Austin’s are out doing what you would expect; traveling the world, biking, hiking, fishing, climbing and exploring new destinations. Active in his own community as well, Dan serves on the Executive Board of the Southeast Montana Tourism Board and on the State of Montana Governor’s Advisory Council on Tourism. Dan also sits on a committee for the City of Billings of over 100 locals as they set out to make Billings a more “Bicycle Friendly” community by developing and maintaining and extensive network of new and existing bike trails.

Contact:

Dan Austin
dan@austinlehman.com
800-575-1540

Travel + Leisure
World's Best
For the fourth year in a row, ALA was recognized as one of the top Tour Operators in the World by Travel + Leisure. Read the Press Release >

Outside Magazine
2012 Hall of Fame Travel Awards
ALA was inducted in Outside Magazine's 2012 Hall of Fame Travel Awards for our groundbreaking Cuba Tours. Read More...

National Geographic Traveler
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