Viking River Cruises Essay

Twenty years ago, the cruise industry was in the midst of a major growth spurt. With everyone focused on the arrival of the first 100,000 gross ton ship and the coming era of the mega cruise ship, the acquisition of four Russian riverboats by a small group of investors led by industry-veteran Torstein Hagen largely went unnoticed. Despite river cruising’s long heritage, few in the industry could envision the potential to transform the niche market into the industry’s fastest growing segment.

In August 1997, having spent $8 million to acquire four boats, Viking River Cruises was established in Leningrad. Hagen admits they were simplistic ships by today’s standards, but adds, “It was something you could get cheap with a huge upside.” He liked Russia and the tourism opportunities.

From these rather humble beginnings, they began to build the new line both with orders for new boats along with several additional acquisitions. However, it was the 2000 acquisition of KD River Cruises, which was

To appeal to the American consumer, Viking made the ships non-smoking and in time elected to focus on the English-speaking market predominately from North America. New destinations were also added including in 2004 Viking’s first partnership in China.

All of these factors helped Viking to achieve growth rates that were the envy of the cruise industry. In 2001, Viking carried 120,000 passengers with $25 million in sales and by 2005 reported that they had averaged 52 percent growth in passenger counts and 60 percent revenue growth. As Viking marked its first decade, they were operating 23 boats with itineraries in Europe, Russia, and China and earning top accolades in consumer polls conducted by both Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler