Viking, the thinking person’s cruise line, is considering a move into tours and holidays, including safaris, to broaden its appeal.

The move follows the raising of billions of dollars of investment after a successful float on the New York stock exchange.

The company already sails 92 vessels, including nine ocean ships, two expedition vessels and the largest river fleet.  It carried 650,000 passengers in 2023.

It also has 24 new ships on order, including 18 new river vessels and six new ocean vessels, with options for 12 more ships. The company will have six ships on the Nile in 2025, for instance.

The prospectus for the public float, which valued the line at over $11 billion and was a success, revealed a lot about the future plans for the Viking brand.

Expect to see more Australians, New Zealanders, Indians and South East Asians on board your next Viking cruise.  The US-based company is expanding its appeal to other countries.

What Viking wants to do next

But what caught many by surprise was Chairman Torstein Hagen’s revelation that other travel products were on the cards after the cash raising, including turning Viking into a travel experiences brand both on and off the water.

‘Additionally, just as we have expanded our travel platform throughout our history, we are exploring other products, such as safaris and land tours, that would allow our guests to explore more of the world in Viking comfort,” he revealed in a letter to shareholders.

“Our guests continue to tell us that they want to travel to new places and experience more with Viking. Our guests know they can expect a consistent, excellent experience on each voyage they take with us, which has allowed us to expand our travel platform successfully with new destinations and experiences.”

The cruise industry veteran who created the line opened the float prospectus by stating: “Viking has always done things differently from others in the travel industry.”

No change in core policies

But don’t expect any changes from the firm no kids, no casinos policy that made Viking such a firm favourite with the over 55s.

Hagen added: “We maintain a clear focus on our most relevant customer group: English-speaking travellers aged 55 years old and over, who have the time, money and desire to explore the world.

“We do not try to be all things to all people, which is why we only offer a single-language experience on board our ships; there are no casinos; and children under 18 are not allowed,” Hagen said.

That said, another idea is European river cruises on which only Mandarin will be spoken, aimed at the expected new wave of Chinese travellers.

Viking has already launched two new world cruises. See more here.