At OAT, we’re constantly scouring the world for exciting destinations as we strive to create new trips for our adventurous travelers, and sometimes the best ideas on where to travel next come from our travelers themselves.
This year, for example, we’ve introduced two new OAT adventures: Our 20-day journey into Turkey’s Sacred Lands & Ancient Civilizations takes us deep into the heart of this ancient country, from the modern city of Istanbul to the far eastern regions where St. Paul preached and the Urartu Empire once ruled—a land that few American travelers have seen. And on The Baltic Capitals & St. Petersburg, we delve into the turbulent history and welcoming cultures of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—three former Soviet states that have re-emerged to reveal their splendor to the world.
Both of these adventures were developed due to the demand of our travelers, who’ve shared their interest in these regions with us in numerous ways. In addition to making reservations for our existing trips, our Adventure Specialists regularly make note of destinations our travelers request that aren’t currently available, and the Baltic states have come up in their conversations with travelers time and time again. Meanwhile, our Turkey’s Magical Hideaways Small Ship Adventure has been a perennial traveler favorite, leading us to believe that our travelers would also be interested in discovering the eastern expanses of this exotic country—which is far too large to cover in one trip alone.
Armed with these ideas—and many others—we sent a ballot to our most loyal travelers early in 2010 that listed 25 prospective itineraries, asking them to cast their vote for new adventures in 2011 and beyond. The response from our travelers was incredible—with more than 40% of the travelers we contacted returning their ballots to us—and after tabulating the results and reading our travelers comments, both the Baltics and Eastern Turkey emerged as clear favorites.
We then reached out to our local offices in those regions, working with them to create the itineraries for these new adventures. Our regional offices in Istanbul and Dubrovnik provided us with the insider’s perspective necessary to create immersive, life-changing trips, but their local contacts allowed us to negotiate better deals with small hotels and regional airlines, ensuring that we could deliver both an excellent travel experience and an excellent value.
In addition to our regional associates, we also drew on the personal experience and expertise of some of our employees here in our Boston office, particularly two associates who were born and raised in Lithuania, and one who lived—and worked as a Grand Circle Travel Program Director—in Latvia. Their input helped our expert team here craft trips that promise to take our travelers beyond the famous sites and behind the scenes, to give them a taste of what life in these countries is really like.
While many people around the world have worked hard to make them a reality, the creation of both The Baltic Capitals & St. Petersburg and Turkey’s Sacred Lands & Ancient Civilizations ultimately began with the interests of our travelers. We’re excited to hear their feedback on these new trips after the first departures in 2011, and we look forward to hearing about where else in the world our travelers would like to go, so we can continue to make their dream adventures a reality.
Experience the magic of our newest trips on our The Baltic Capitals & St. Petersburg and Turkey’s Sacred Lands & Ancient Civilizations adventures.