Lindblad Expeditions

Lindblad Travel

Lars-Eric Lindblad founded Lindblad Travel in Connecticut in 1958. Lindblad Travel led the first tourist expedition to Antarctica in 1966 and was among the first companies to bring tourists to the Galápagos Islands starting in 1967. Later, after launching the first private, purpose-built expedition ship, the Lindblad Explorer , it pioneered tourist expeditions to the Arctic, Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, the Seychelles, Easter Island, Indonesia, the Amazon River, and many others. In 1984 Lindblad Travel led the first tourist expedition through the Northwest Passage from Newfoundland to the Bering Strait.Regarded as the father of ecotourism, Lars-Eric Lindblad believed strongly that travel to difficult-to-reach places encouraged a desire to preserve and protect the planet. In addition to leading expeditions in remote wilderness areas, Lindblad Travel also led trips to hard-to-visit countries such as China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The company ceased operations in 1989.

Special Expeditions

Lars-Eric Lindblad passed along his passions for adventure, exploration, and conservation to his son, Sven-Olof Lindblad, who joined him on expeditions from an early age. In 1979 Sven-Olof Lindblad founded Special Expeditions as a subsidiary of Lindblad Travel. Special Expeditions decoupled from Lindblad Travel in 1982 and was renamed Lindblad Expeditions in 2000.

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic

Since 2004, Lindblad Expeditions has partnered with National Geographic and is now cobranded in the Americas and Oceania as Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic. This alliance pairs Lindblad expedition leaders, naturalists, and historians with National Geographic scientists, oceanographers, writers, photo instructors, and filmmakers. Itineraries operated by Lindblad are also sold by National Geographic Expeditions, and Lindblad-owned vessels in the fleet feature “National Geographic” in their names.

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic went public in July 2015. It trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LIND.In 2016, Lindblad purchased a controlling interest in Natural Habitat, Inc., an ecotourism company based in Boulder, Colorado, that specializes in land-based tours. In 2021, Lindblad further expanded its brand portfolio to include Bozeman, Montana-based travel company Off the Beaten Path; DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co, a Boston-based company specializing in cycling tours; and Classic Journeys, which specializes in luxury walking tours.Sven Lindblad retired as CEO in 2021. The current CEO is Dolf Berle.