© A l b a t r o s 2 019
Albatros Travel was founded in 1986 by Biologist, Expedition Leader and Writer Søren Rasmussen, who is still very active in the company.
Once upon a time
…A young biologist with an appetite for exploration, who one day traveled to Africa and found it to be a real adventure, full of fantastic animals, unique cultures and beautiful landscapes. The young biologist was completely absorbed by this, and the course of his life was forever changed.
Several decades later, the white coat has long been replaced by a suitcase, safari companies and a travel agency. After the African adventure, a wide bouquet of cultural trips followed, as well as expedition cruises in both the Arctic and Antarctica and marathon trips. From the very beginning, Søren Rasmussen has emphasized that everything be done from scratch with the greatest thoroughness, which has resulted in Albatros having great control over the quality of travelers’ experiences through the ownership of a number of hotels, bush camps, bus companies and cruise ships.
The Family business
Albatros
Søren and Berit’s children were born in a suitcase, thus having a natural interest in adventure and traveling, with the appetite for adventure passed on to them from their very first steps. For this reason, Albatros has been transformed into a Danish family business where children, in-law children and relatives, etc. work in different functions.
BERIT WILLUMSGAARD
CÆCILIE WILLUMSGAARD
RASMUS WILLUMSGAARD
JENS HØYER RASMUSSEN
Geographer, married to Søren Rasmussen. Managing Director in charge of Albatros’ Scandinavian activities.
Daughter of Berit and Søren. Biologist, responsible for all the Corporate Social Responsibility programs (CSR).
Son of Berit and Søren. CEO and Leader of company’s IT Department and Technology.
Son-in-law. Sales and Marketing Director and Historian.
Albatros is formed by over a thousand employees spread across a large part of the globe, with the headquarters in Copenhagen as the unified team, where up to 200 employees have their daily activies.
Albatros office in South Africa
Albatros office in East Africa
Publications Søren Rasmussen has combined his knowledge of biology with the many years of experience as an Expedition Leader in the field, resulting in a series of books about humanity ’s relationship with nature:
Man in Nature – Nature in Man (English edt. 2019)
Nature can survive without us, but we cannot survive without nature. Sometimes we see ourselves as an entity that is separate from nature, but how clear is the line that divides us? Maybe sometimes we forget, that we are inextricably linked to all other organisms, living in us, on us, around us and communicating with each other and the cells of our body – completely independently from us.
Østen for solen – Rejser i tiden In this book, Søren Rasmussen visits old and new civilizations, and through this, reinterprets the concept of civilization. The book’s arguments are not linear, as neither is civilization’s search for progress and prosperity.
The Greatest Safari…. In the beginning was Africa (English edt. 2014)
In the beginning, there was Africa – Stories about life’s development seen through Africa’s nature and people.
The Polar Handbook (English edt. 2014)
Richly illustrated handbook for cruise travelers to Greenland, Svalbard, Arctic and Antarctica in general. The book provides a brief overview of the geography of the areas, history, climate, ocean currents… as well as ecosystems in the sea and on land.
Albatros in
Africa
KHOKA MOYA ZEBRA LODGE
We try to recreate the authentic safari experience, from the time before tourism flooded the savannah. We do not want to be surrounded by candles, chairs and asphalt roads, but enjoy the nature and the sounds of elephans that piss outside our terrace. In short, we want to live in the middle of the savannah among the so-called “Big Five” and rather not share the experience with others.“
MANTOBENI
“Our three best camps, Mantobeni, Khoka Moya & Ranger Camp, we also call ‘Honeyguide Camps’, after the little bug consciously invoking human attention to help steal honey from the hives.
RANGER CAMP
Africa was the first continent where Albatros got firm ground, with its own safari offices and vehicles in Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia and earlier also in Zimbabwe. Afterwards, the agency bought and built a number of bush camps and hotels, especially in South Africa. Søren Rasmussen says:
Great Wall
Marathon In 1998, Albatros developed the great run on the Great Wall of China, The Great Wall Marathon. Every year, runners from all over the world have the opportunity to take on this not very easy task, built as part of an Albatros concept called the Adventure Marathons. The basic principle of these races is that the route must be spectacular and that the race should be a lot more difficult than traditional races. Therefore, Albatros always brings its own team responsible for safety and health as well as depots in abundant amounts. There is always a common pasta party and gala after the race. In addition, the event is combined with a good holiday experience.
albatros-adventure-marathons.com
Similarly, Albatros arranges the Big Five Marathon among lions and elephants in South Africa, the Polar Circle Marathon on Greenland’s Ice Sheet, the Petra Marathon in the magnificent temple complex of Jordan and the Bagan Marathon in Myanmar’s outstanding temple valley.
Albatros
Expeditions
albatros-expeditions.com
Since 1995, our company has amassed decades of know-how with expeditions to Antarctica, Greenland, Svalbard and Iceland. Albatros Expeditions has been intricately conceived on the foundation of this experience, the expertise of our staff, the distinct superiority of small ship cruises, and of our greatest advantage: The familiarity and proximity to our native environment, the Nordic regions. Rasmus Willumsgaard adds: “Today, we sail all year round with our own expedition ship, Ocean Atlantic, from October to March for our Antarctic Season, and from May to October for our Arctic Season. The ship can host up to 200 passengers in spacious cabins with a service standard corresponding to first class. Our Expedition Cruises differ from conventional cruises in several ways: The ships are smaller and have fewer
passengers, and many landings take place via Zodiac boars to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.� To continue bringing high measures of quality in each voyage, our team is often tracing routes on the map to bring forth new exciting expeditions for our guests. Before the voyages are approved, we have established a demanding set of conditions to ensure Nordic standards of service, safe and transformational experiences in every outing, distinguished lectures and programs, to both educate and entertain our guests. Our Expedition guides have great knowledge and expertise in the field and speak a variety of languages. Starting in 2020, the Albatros Fleet will expand with a newly built, five-star ocean cruise, Ocean Victory.
OCEAN VICTORY OCEAN VICTORY AND ZODIAC
OCEAN ATLANTIC
OCEAN ATLANTIC CABINS
Albatros in
Greenland
HOTEL HVIDE FALK
Over the past 25 years, Albatros has become increasingly well-established with cruise ships, local offices, hotels, restaurants and expedition vehicles in Kangerlussuaq and Ilulissat, where Albatros also owns Hotel Hvide Falk (hotelhvidefalk.gl)
Albatros has developed a number of specialty products, such as overnight stays on the ice cap and marathon rides on the big Greenland ice sheet. In recent years, we are in full swing, developing exclusive accommodations in peaceful scenic areas. aac.gl
Cultural trips with
Travel Leaders
Kikuyu in Kenya
Expedition in Greenland
Albatros has over the years organized major and minor cultural trips throughout the globe, to places like: the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America, South America’s Galapagos and Easter Islands, Africa’s Mauritius and Seychelles, Central Asia, the Far East, the Pacific Ocean with New Zealand and Australia, Europe and Russia. Amongst other things, Albatros has developed a whole host of new concepts like group tours on cruises, a journey within a journey, long-term holidays like cultural travel, holiday college, expedition cruises and numerous new combinations.
“In Albatros, we have invested a lot of resources in finding, developing and maintaining the very best competent travel leaders who possess the rare combination of knowledge, storytelling and social setting.” – Berit says.
When arranging tours and cultural trips, the most important element of the trip is the travel guide.
“Travelers have a major influence on our travels through the evaluation schedules, where travelers evaluate all trips for a neutral system. The entire evaluation process is quite independent of Albatros, and the results are studied thoroughly in the engine room. What does not last, we remove, and the right elements, stay.”
Corporate Social Responsibility Travel with heart, mind and spirit CÆCILIE EXPLAINS: Albatros has always focused on sustainability and accountability. Right back to the beginning of the 90’s, Albatros experimented with sustainable forms of travel, although at that time the concept had not been popularized yet. Albatros developed its own definitions, which led to the focus being slowly shifted from traditional nature protection to behavior at the destinations, and most recently, the climate issues were involved. However, through time we also realized that one has to pick battles carefully, and for this reason, we generally choose to support very specific projects. It can be a school or a well in a village or institution that is strategically related to our travels, so that the locals feel the positive effect of our presence. In 2007, we built the world’s first CO2-neutral lodge in Africa, with its own restaurant and guide school, involving full participation of the locals. For this project, we were nominated to Al Gore’s climate & environmental award. The lessons learned through our experience, are now used to direct more and more of our small hotels and vessels towards a more environmentally friendly direction. We have twice received the Danish travel writers’ annual prize for our efforts for the environment. For many years, we didn’t see our CSR as something that should be included as part of our marketing, but today, due to the general interest, we share these activities on our websites and brochures.
Cæcilie on ranger training
From Attitude to Action KARM MARG is an organization that operates an orphanage in Faridabad outside Delhi, for 60 children aged 4 to 18. The organization attaches great importance to the children becoming self-reliant. The older children, together with approx. 100 women from the local area, learn to make environmentally friendly products that can be sold. Albatros supports Karm Marg, for example, by buying their fabric bags as a gift for all our guests in India. WELVERDIEND is a small village close to Albatros’ two safari camps, Khoka Moya and Mantobeni. We work closely with the village, where many of the camp’s employees come from. We educate the locals in the field of hotel service at the camp, and have several times supported the village schools with new books and electronic teaching equipment. We have also built a new school building, with room for a library and a computer room at another of the city’s six schools.
ANIMAL WELFARE is a priority for Albatros. We are involved in various nature conservation and research projects. We wish for wild animals to roam freely in nature, and therefore our travels do not have excursions, or similar activities where wild animals would be used for unnatural entertainment. We are currently placing emphasis on the protection of endangered rhinoceros in the areas around our camps, where we, among other things, provide support with extra ranger monitoring and patrolling. We are also co-founders of the first rhino orphanage. REDUCTION OF PLASTIC WASTE is a high priority on all our camps and cruise ships, and we apply it by replacing all disposable dispensers with refillable kinds, and stopping use of unnecessary plastic such as straws. In addition, we provide our guests with recyclable aluminum bottles instead of plastic bottles with water.
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