Viking River Cruises, the world’s largest river cruise company, has
announced the launch of Viking Tours, a new venture that will bring
travelers to some of the most exotic places on the planet.
Many of our customers have asked us if we would consider organizing
land tours offering the same richly rewarding travel and high level
of comfort that they have experienced with Viking River Cruises,
said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of both Viking River Cruises
and Viking Tours. In this, our tenth anniversary year, we felt the
time was right to begin this exciting new venture.
Viking Tours will offer programs in India, Southeast Asia, Egypt,
South Africa, South America, the Galapagos, Scandinavia, Antarctica
and the South Pacific. All tours offer outstanding pre- and
post-tour packages to such destinations as Bhutan, Dubai, Cambodia
& Angkor, Petra, Reykjavik and Ayers Rock. We are very proud of
these unique itineraries,” noted Ted Sykes, President of Viking
Tours. Just as our river cruises allow travelers to explore places
they could not easily reach by ocean cruise or bus tour, our tours
provide travelers once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Based on feedback
from our customers and our worldwide travel experience, we chose
our initial list of destinations. We then carefully planned each
tour to ensure the highest level of product delivery in terms of
pacing, comfort and quality of the experience. We understand the
high expectations our guests have of Viking and will again deliver
to these standards.
Viking Tours will partner with some of the world’s most distinctive
hotel and resort owners and operators: for example, Taj Hotels,
Resorts and Palaces, purveyors of five-star luxury hotels in India,
and Orient-Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises, which owns and
manages hotels, trains, cruises and restaurants in an impressive
array of exotic destinations. The Shangri-La in Bangkok, the
Serengeti Serena Lodge and the legendary Kirawira Camp in Tanzania,
the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe, the Observatory Hotel in
Sydney, the Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa in
Australia’s Blue Mountains, the Hermitage Hotel at Mt. Cook on New
Zealand’s South Island (with all glacier view rooms), and the Taj
Lake Palace and Jai Mahal Palace, two beautiful former palaces in
India, are just a few of the accommodations guests of Viking Tours
will experience.
Depending on destination, in addition to luxury trains, deluxe
ships and motor coaches, guests may travel by air, ferry, schooner,
inflatable PolarCirkel boat, catamaran, Jeep, cable car,
horse-drawn carriage, hot-air balloon, camel or elephant. Viking
Tours is dedicated to ensuring that travelers always see the sights
from the best and most interesting perspective as they progress
along their journey. Viking Tours has also established partnerships
that allow travelers to get “up close and personal with local
people and be immersed in local cultures. Many tours feature
dinners hosted by local families in their homes, or with native
people in their villages.
Viking Tours departures begin in January, 2008; an Early Booking
Discount of $500 per person ($1,000 per couple) is available on
tours booked and paid in full by August 31, 2007. Commissions are
set at 12 percent of the brochure price for tour packages, 5
percent on full-price air travel, and 10 percent on the Travel
Protection Plan.
877-845-8687
www.vikingtours.
