In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Vikings, also known as Norsemen or Norsemen, invaded and colonized large regions of Europe. Their destructive influence was profound on European history. Several factors contributed to the attacks of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish heathen warriors, from overcrowding at home to the relative helplessness of victims abroad.
My Viking Journey Company has three divisions: Viking River Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises, and Viking Expeditions. From February 2020, it will operate 76 river cruises and six maritime cruises on North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia, Egypt, China, and Southeast Asia’s rivers and oceans. The Viking Group has also sponsored the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Metropolitan Opera, the BBC, the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Torstein Hagen founded Viking River Cruises in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1997. As a consultant to McKinsey and Co., Hagen guided Holland America Line through the 1973 oil crisis. In 1980, he became CEO of Royal Viking Line, making money in the Russian private equity market and buying a majority stake. He owned a stake in a Dutch shipping company that almost went bankrupt in the mid-1990s. Hagen helped Russian oligarchs buy a shipping company, which they turned into Viking River Cruises’ first fleet of river cruise vessels in 1997.
Viking began in 1997 with the vision that travel could become more intentional and culturally immersive. The company acquired KD River Cruises in 2000 to expand its fleet, utilize a 40-year river cruise experience, and gain access to significant piers in major European cities. A sales and marketing office was established in Los Angeles, California when the company entered the US market in 2000. Viking has expanded into offering cruises on all seven continents, including rivers, seas, and expeditions, in the past decade.