The Story Continues: O.A.T. and YOU ...

In their post-trip evaluation surveys, travelers consistently comment on the easy camaraderie that develops in their O.A.T. small group.

We really can’t stress enough the key role you, as an O.A.T. traveler, play in the success of our business. Your observations and suggestions about our trips allow us to grow and improve as a company—and continue to serve you as best as we possibly can. So we’ve made a concerted effort to improve the ways we communicate with you, making it easier than ever before for you to share your thoughts and opinions with us.

First, we send a post-trip evaluation survey to every O.A.T. traveler. We ask you to complete this survey and tell us what you think about every aspect of your experience, from the detailed information we send you prior to your departure and your air itinerary and accommodations to the performance of your O.A.T. Trip Leader and the quality of both included and optional tours.

We take the feedback you give us on those forms very seriously, and use your recommendations to improve our trips. Here’s just one example of how you’ve helped us make our adventures even better: On Tunisia: From the Mediterranean to the Sahara, we changed the itinerary dramatically in response to your feedback—replacing our stay in Sousse with the coastal town of Hammamet; adding a night in Kairouan, the great spiritual center of North Africa; and replacing Douz with an overnight at an O.A.T. tented camp in the Sahara. Instead of staying on the island of Djerba, we now spend two nights in Tataouine to explore the Ksar Route villages of the Berber people. We also replaced hotels that you said were below standard, and supported our Trip Leaders with additional training.

Harriet chats with traveler Zeren Earls during an event at O.A.T.’s headquarters in Boston.

Another way we keep the conversation going is through Harriet’s Corner, a special section of our website that launched last year. As its name implies, Harriet was the driving force behind this addition: She wanted to create a space where she could share special moments from our own travels … as well as stories, pictures, and videos from O.A.T. travelers. We’ve been truly moved too see how many of you have embraced Harriet’s Corner—and we want you to know how much we’ve enjoyed the experience, too! So if you haven’t visited Harriet’s Corner lately, we encourage you to do so: Harriet and her team add something new to the site each week, so you’ll always find something interesting to inform and inspire your own travels.

And speaking of the O.A.T. website, you’ve no doubt noticed by now that we’ve created a new “Community” section that includes Traveler Discussions forums. We’ve always wanted to give O.A.T. travelers a way to “talk” to each other, so we’re thrilled to finally make this dream a reality. No topic is off limits in our Traveler Discussions: you can post questions about upcoming trips, offer advice to other travelers looking for specific trip or destination information, share highlights from your own travels with O.A.T., or simply add your two cents to the various travel topics being discussed. We’re proud to offer you this special way to connect with other travelers and share your passion for—and curiosity about—our wild, wonderful world.

Alan and Harriet, seen here in New Hampshire, cite open and honest feedback from travelers as the key to O.A.T.’s continued success.

With our post-trip surveys, Harriet’s Corner, and Traveler Discussions, we want to make certain everyone is included in the conversation. To us, that’s part of what being in a relationship is all about. We’re the best and we want to keep getting even better. But we can’t do it without your help.

And so our story continues. It’s been a while since Alan stood at the top of a mountain, but every day continues to bring new challenges, and more clarity about what we want to do and where we want to go. It’s been fun sharing our story so far. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing O.A.T.

Warm regards,

Alan & Harriet

O.A.T.: Our Story
In the Beginning: Making Adventure our Business
Our Philosophy: Change is Good
Growing the Business … and our Family
The Fundamentals: Small Groups, Small Ships
The Next Chapter: More Choices, Better Value
» The Story Continues: O.A.T. and YOU ...