The Little Wine Bus - The Face Behind the Little Wine Bus

Who is the Little Wine Bus?

Winner 2008 and 2012 Hudson Valley Magazine "Best Way To Tour The Vineyards"

Tania and The Little Bus Company Story:

The Little Wine Bus, Inc. was founded, & created in 2007, by Hudson Valley native, Tania P. Dougherty, Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) & Certified Meeting Professional (CMP). Tania has over 28 years of experience in the Travel, Tourism, Hospitality, & Transportation industry at New York City’s top firms, and she has an extremely distinguished background in planning & executing prestigious, Wall Street corporate events, and even in the Caribbean Islands.  She has planned large, & extremely creative Winery & Brewery tours & events, for hundreds of “well-known” corporate clients, including: Lifetime Television, YouTube, Google, Spotify, AOL, Boston Consulting Group, Turner Broadcasting, Oracle, Fox News, IBM, Roche, American Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines, Hess Corporation, Men’s Journal Magazine owners, CBS, Lenox Hill, Mt. Sinai, Montefiore Medical, Westchester Medical, Merck, Boehringer Pharmaceuticals & so so many more.  Many of these clients, book her every year for a new & memorable adventure with their employees, teams and clients. 

In her past New York City Life, & Career, she has worked predominantly, on “elite”, executive floors, for some of New York’s most notable, & influential CEO’S, business owners, and executives, in both, the travel, and finance industries, such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, State Street, & Valerie Wilson Travel. When she was just 27 years old, she was featured in the infamous “New York Times Magazine” in a (3) page article for being a “hard working” & “smart” Wall Street assistant, who got promoted to Event Planner, and won numerous “work horse” awards at her financial firm…and sadly, just 2 days later, Tania, and her co-workers, ran across the Brooklyn Bridge, with no shoes, barely escaping the severe & traumatic events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on The World Trade Center, and downtown NYC.  Her favorite job was at Morgan Stanley where she worked her way up to the 40th executive floor overlooking Times Square. It is here, that Tania dreamed of, sketched out, & created her “creative & unique” Little Wine Bus, to show her friends her beloved Hudson Valley wineries to and to “vacate” New York City for a day, and go have the time of their lives winery hopping …..The rest is “POOF” history…

The Little Bus Company consists of: The Little Wine Bus, Hudson Valley Wine Tours, Parties, Events, & Adventure Tours, The Little Beer Bus, Hudson Valley Brewery & Distillery Tours, The Little Apple Bus, Hudson Valley Apple Picking Tours, Parties & Corporate Events, and Hudson Valley Party Ride, a “Transportation Only” company in the Hudson Valley, servicing the “party scene”, wedding shuttling, corporate event shuttling, & the nightlife around town with a designated driver, and a nice ride.

Tania truly pioneered the entire winery and brewery touring industry in the Hudson Valley region. By her 1st year in business, she started bringing up thousands and thousands of people from New York City to the Hudson Valley wine region, even consistently running (6 to 8) buses a day, year after year and still to this day.

She is the sole & original founder, and coined, “Hudson Valley Wine Country”, and put the (.com) on the New York State map!  After, she saw a great need for a new and exciting “Beer Trail” for The Little Beer Bus to venture to, so she founded and coined the “Hudson Valley Beer Trail”, which, was immediately named one of the “Top 10 Beer Trails in all of America” by Conde Nast.   Her companies won (3) times for “Best Of The Hudson Valley Awards” and also “Best Bachelorette Party” in Westchester Magazine.

All of her tours specialize in fun & extremely creative day tours, “weekenders” retreats, special events, corporate events, fine winery & brewery dinners, team building, birthday/bachelorette/bachelor parties, wedding showers, engagement parties, rehearsal dinners, family reunions, culinary style events, and more.

Tania earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Management & Leadership from New York University, as well as a Travel Counselor Certificate.  She then graduated from the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, where she received her Certified Travel Counselor Designation, & soon after, received her Certified Meeting Professional Designation from the Convention Industry Council.  In 2022, Tania was accepted into the “prestigious” C.I.B.E. program at Columbia Business School’s Executive Education program. 

Since starting The Little Bus Company, Tania has received recognition from multiple institutions & has been asked to speak at New York University to alumni numerous times, as well as a guest speaker at St. Johns University's School of Hospitality. She has been featured in many publications & magazines such, as, The Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, Westchester Magazine, I love New York, CBS, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Knot, Jetsetter, Conde Nast & even made the front cover of Orange County Magazine.

Every year, The Little Wine Bus contributes to charitable organizations such as, St Jude Children’s Hospital, The Ronald McDonald House, tri-state school fundraisers, local hospitals, galas, silent auctions, tricky trays, and many more, and we will do as much as we can, each year.

Professional Memberships: 
Member: I.A.T.A.N. (International Airlines Travel Agent Network)
The Little Wine Bus, Inc. is a fully licensed, operational & Commissionable Travel Agency & Tour Operator.
Member:  The Disney Institute, Authorized Disney Travel Agent
Member:  Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation
Member:  Orange County Chamber of Commerce

Member:  The Shawangunk Wine Trail