– by Thomas Stanley, COO Cox & Kings USA
I cannot tell you how excited I am to join one of the most esteemed and regal tour operators in the world. It is truly an honor to be part of the legacy that is Cox & Kings.
I’ve cut my teeth as a young tour director for the legendary pioneer of modern adventure travel, Lars Eric Lindblad, who instilled in me a standard of the best — the best experiences, the best hotels, the best restaurants. I've had the pleasure of accompanying celebrities and the elite while working with Private Jet Expeditions. And my skills were honed with "the experience" while working at adventure travel company Mountain Travel Sobek. I was also President of Travcoa, one of Cox & King's noble competitors, and was involved in the emerging world of the Internet, with a mission to democratize information on the web.
I bring these skills and experiences to Cox & Kings. I plan on using this wisdom to ensure Cox & Kings offers the finest, most experiential travel programs available at the best possible value.
My first impressions of working here was the unbounded enthusiasm of the travel professionals at Cox & Kings. The depth of knowledge, the attention to detail, the persistent mission of trying to raise the bar of the traveler's experience are a dream come true for a new executive like me. I can't ask for a more talented, cheerful and more dedicated group of professionals to work with. Each person possesses unique qualities that make this company great. And with our combined experiences and expertise, I believe we cover just about every country on earth.
In the past 25 years I've been operating tours, we've seen Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other closed destinations open up. The last remaining un-opened country is North Korea, which lets in very few visitors. And we think the travel ban for Americans to Cuba will be lifted shortly. The world is truly the most open it's been in modern times.
But what will the next 250 years bring? With the Internet, our knowledge of the world has grown. We know more than we ever have about other cultures, their cuisine, their traditions and their perspective. I firmly believe that the future for Cox & Kings is in offering travel programs that fit the individual traveler's interest and comfort. It's the power of experience! More and more of our clients want an authentic and real interaction within the culture they visit. They want to come away with an emotional connection to the destination. This will be our mission.
Additionally, we have more clients who also want to experience great destinations at a better price point. We are developing, along with our counterparts at Cox & Kings in the UK, new group tour programs for those who want to travel with like-minded travelers but want to travel at a lower price point. We’re excited about these new programs and will have many announcements to come in the near future.
There's so much more that the great crew at Cox & Kings will be developing over the next year. Rest assured, we strive to ensure that we create the most unforgettable travel experiences.
I look forward to making my contribution to the next 250 years of Cox & Kings.
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