Each year we work with the most experienced and professional tour operators to bring exciting areas of the world to our alumni and friends. Each tour operator is dedicated to the pursuit of lifelong learning, and each has met our criteria for financial responsibility, established reputation, professionalism, quality operations and all-around dependability. Let us introduce you to the tour operators we are currently working with:
AHI Travel
University of Washington alumni have been traveling around the world with AHI Travel since the 1970s. It offers deluxe international educational tours and is known for luxurious European river cruises. AHI Travel also offers a wide selection of destinations through its Alumni Campus Abroad series, which promises intimate educational experiences through lectures, excursions and "meet the people" exchanges in small towns off the beaten path. Many UW travelers have participated in five or more campus abroad tours.
Alumni Travel Group
Alumni Travel Group was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. With over 35 years in the travel industry, ATG specializes in deluxe cruises and land tours throughout the world. The company prides itself on offering high-quality cruises at the best fares available. In today's high-tech world, Alumni Travel Group combines old-fashioned personal service with a vast wealth of travel and cruise knowledge.
Avalon Waterways
Avalon Waterways' river and small-ship cruises represent one of the most peaceful and hassle-free ways to discover multiple destinations with the advantage of having to pack and unpack only once. Created for the North American market, Avalon Waterways features the newest and most upscale fleet of ships on the rivers of Europe today.
Go Next
In 2009, UW Alumni Tours partnered with Go Next to bring UW alumni and friends luxury cruising with Oceania Cruises. Through their relationship with Oceania, Go Next secures group space for a variety of university alumni association clients and acts as the universities' cruise agency. Working with Oceania, Go Next makes sure all cruise travelers are provided with excellent customer service and have all their cruising needs met to ensure a fabulous travel experience. Go Next was founded in 1972 and has been providing quality travel programs for alumni groups and other professional associations since then.
Thomas P. Gohagan & Co.
An experienced leader in alumni travel, Gohagan & Co. was founded in 1984 with the mission of offering a variety of special interest tours with educational themes. In addition to deluxe river cruises, safaris and land programs, it also offers a series of Village Life programs. Each tour in the series offers special features not available to the traveling public.
Lindblad Expeditions
Lindblad Expeditions is considered a leader in expedition and ecotourism travel. Their small ships take travelers to many inspiring and out-of-the-way places. Dedicated to educational travel, each cruise includes a highly professional team of experts to help travelers learn and appreciate the natural world around them. Lindblad was voted a top-10 best small cruise line and a top-15 tour operator for 2008 by Travel & Leisure magazine.
Odysseys Unlimited
Founded in 1998, Odysseys Unlimited has emerged as the leader in affordable, high-quality small group travel. Odysseys Unlimited is included in the list of the top-15 tour operators by Travel & Leisure magazine and is a favorite of UW alumni travelers. Its small group tours (each tour is limited to 24 travelers) allow guests to move about easily and spontaneously, to stay in unique accommodations and to experience one-on-one cultural encounters. Odysseys Unlimited further distinguishes itself by employing top-notch tour directors that are among the most experienced in the industry.
Starquest Expeditions
For more than 30 years, the intrepid professionals who created Starquest Expeditions have combed the globe in search of the extraordinary, the unusual and the stunningly beautiful. They have pioneered expedition travel, opened doors for tourism in some of the world's most remote regions, perfected the concept of private jet travel and developed exclusive travel programs for the most distinguished universities, museums and cultural institutions in the country.
Worldview Tours
A specialist in offering unique group tours to India, Bhutan and the Himalayas, Worldview Tours and UW Alumni Tours first partnered in 2009 to take UW alumni and friends on an incredible tour through South India. The tour operator specializes in creating individual itineraries for each client—no tour is "off the shelf!" In 2010, UW Alumni Tours and WorldView Tours are sponsoring the very first UW alumni tour to the Kingdom of Bhutan.
