This week we catch up with Albatros Expeditions' CEO Hans Lagerweij to learn more about this Danish family-owned expedition cruise company that specialises in polar regions and beyond.
Hans, tell us more about Albatros Expeditions.
Albatros Expeditions is a Danish family-owned company which began with expedition cruises in Greenland over 30 years ago. While Greenland still constitutes our core expertise, we now offer expedition cruises in Antarctica, the Arctic, the Americas, and Northern Europe.
Our value proposition to our guests: we offer sustainable small ship expeditions, inspired by our Nordic heritage. We are explorers ourselves, and since 1986 we have been creating life-changing memories for our guests while offering unbeatable value. Our guests are our family.
In Greenland we also own and operate our own facilities (including hotels and tour vessels), creating a bespoke, unique, fully integrated experience for our guests.
We operate two state-of-the-art X-Bow vessels, Ocean Victory and Ocean Albatros, which have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per guest in the industry. Our expert Expedition Teams are carefully selected to enable our guests to fully understand, appreciate, enjoy their destination.
What are your unique selling points?
Sustainability: We received our first Sustainable Travel Award in 1995! We support and report under UN Global Compact, and are pro-actively supporting several charitable initiatives focused on polar conservation. Our ships are clean ship certified and have among the lowest emissions per guest in the industry. We offer fair-trade organic teas and coffees, and our parkas are fully recyclable.
Nordic heritage: Scandinavian products are known for their minimalist design, sustainability, and craftsmanship, which we aim to emulate in our onboard experiences and our unpretentious “hygge” atmosphere and culture.
We are explorers: Our owner and chairman Søren Rasmussen is an expedition leader, biology lecturer and author on evolution, conservation and anthropology. Our whole team share his passion for our destinations.
We create life-changing memories: With an NPS score of 87 and Trustpilot score of 4.5 we lead the industry.
We offer unbeatable value, competitive pricing, a high-quality product with affordable luxury.
What is your most popular destination/itinerary?
In the winter, Antarctica is our focus with a variety of voyages, some of which also visit South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. Our early summer focus is on Svalbard, and our late summer focus on Greenland. As Greenland experts, we aim to offer a choice of itineraries covering the entire island.
As a Danish company with longstanding links to Greenland, we focus our innovation on this unique destination, however our classic Disko Bay itinerary remains one of our most popular. We are always looking to enhance our offering in Greenland and work closely with small locally owned businesses to offer authentic experiences to our guests.
Finally, we are always looking for new opportunities between our core seasons as our vessels reposition between hemispheres. Our Scottish itineraries are becoming increasingly popular, and we have high expectations for our new “Viking” voyage from Denmark to Scotland in 2024.
What is new for 2024/25 season?
We are very excited about our new Viking voyage, following the footsteps of the Vikings from our home in Copenhagen through the North Sea to Scotland. There is so much history here to encounter, and s unique and unknown highlights can be found so close to home, such as Skagen in Denmark, the wildlife-rich Shetland Islands, and the ancient archaeological sites of the Orkney Islands.
In 2024, we will offer a new ‘express’ Svalbard voyage, designed to show the highlights of this spectacular destination in a short period, aimed to fit into working holidays or to combine with longer Scandinavian trips. In 2025, we hope to offer innovative new routes in north and east Greenland.
Meet the team:
Thank you, Hans.
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