Skift Take
These four entrepreneurs took the first steps toward what would become modern adventure and luxury travel, and their first-hand accounts hold lessons — and entertainment — for all those who followed in their wake.
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Between 1962 and 1979, four of today’s largest and most successful luxury travel companies emerged.
Built around the personalities of a single explorer enchanted by the world and enabled by commercial aviation, these companies have stood the test of time despite broad changes in industry operation and customer expectation.
Skift spoke with Geoffrey Kent, George Butterfield, Sven-Olof Lindblad, and Andrew Harper throughout the summer to tell the story of how these businesses emerged, how they adapted over 55 years, why they stayed independent (or didn't), and what challenges they face for the future.
The Right Conditions
None of today's luxury travel pioneers set out to build the world's most successful full-service travel companies. They were lawyers, photographers, polo players, and editors before diving deep into the travel industry and shifting how and where people go. Quietly, however, the conditions were being set for their success.
Commercial aviation took off in the 1950s and travelers from poor college students to industry titans were eager to see the world in a way that was simply not possible before. Airlines were actually profitable and actively promoting tours and trips in addition to selling tickets.
These were an entrepreneurial group who began several projects. These companies, however, were very much born out of their own pleasure in exploring the world and wanting to share that or find a way to continue doing it for the rest of their lives.
"It was almost by accident," they say.
The focus was not so much on "luxury" as we define it today, but on providing the highest quality experience in that time — whether that meant the best safari camps, the most informed guides, or access to untouched areas. These companies were in many cases the first to enter destinations from China to the Galapagos Islands and had a front row seat to unsoiled territory — a privilege that is nearly impossible today in the age of overtourism.
Before bemoaning the current possibilities for exploration, let's look back at 1962 when an African safari was designed solely for hunters and much of the continent had never been touched by a foreign visitor.
Abercrombie & Kent's Ascent to Luxury Leader
Abercrombie & Kent was launched in 1962 by a young Geoffrey Kent who saw an opportun
