Chris Owens joins the judging panel in 2026 with nearly four decades of coach and bus industry experience. After studying business management and computer science in Salford, he joined the family business, Alpine Travel, full time in 1986, gaining experience across all areas of his father’s coach company.
Chris progressed into managerial roles, which led to his involvement with the North Wales Coach Operators Association and then CPT at regional and national levels, including Coach Commission, Coach Marque, the Coach Tourism Association and Transaid Challenges. He became CPT President in 2014. Outside the coach industry, Chris chaired Destination Conwy, was vice chair of the Visit Wales Regional Tourism Forum, and was Treasurer of Cruise Wales.
In 2002, when his father retired, Chris continued to grow and develop Alpine Travel into the largest independent coach and bus operator in North Wales, through organic growth and strategic acquisitions including Jones Holidays in 2017, which consolidated the company’s position in the luxury coach touring market.
Chris retired in June 2024 when he sold the business to the Coach Travel Group, at which point the company was operating around 90 vehicles with over 120 employees.
