2026 New Year’s Message from Torstein Hagen
Join Viking Chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen as he reflects on the milestones of 2025 and shares his hopes for the future in a New Year’s message to the Viking family of guests and crew.
Video Transcript
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Hello to all our Viking guests.
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I want to take a moment to mark the start of this new year and to thank you for being part of the Viking Journey.
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I rarely look backward, but at the beginning of a new year, it can sometimes be useful to reflect on what we've accomplished and to learn from what we might do even better.
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The past 12 months have been busy for us at Viking.
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We continue to expand our fleet and took delivery of our newest ocean ship, the Viking Vesta, which we named on a hot day in the beautiful port of Split, Croatia.
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We also named nine new river ships, including the hundredth ship in our fleet in a ceremony that connected six countries from Egypt and Vietnam to Portugal, France, Germany, and Switzerland.
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Six Viking Senior Vice Presidents served as Godmothers, and two of our Egyptian partners were Godfathers.
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Recognized their contributions to Viking success made this a very moving movement for all of us and perhaps my favorite naming ceremony of all.
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Today, Viking has more than 100 ships across our award-winning River, Ocean and Expedition fleet.
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So wherever in the world you would like to explore, we can help you do so in Viking comfort.
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We also announced expansion into exciting new destinations, including the Brahmaputra River in India, where we'll begin sailing in 2027 with two ships there by 2028.
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And 2025 was a historic year for awards.
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Condé Nast Traveler readers, once again named Viking, number one for both Rivers and Ocean for the fifth year in a row.
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Travel + Leisure are also named as a World's Best for Rivers, Oceans, and Expeditions.
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No other travel company has received these honors simultaneously from these two publications.
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This year also marked our first full year as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.
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And I'm proud to say the transition from private to public has not changed our corporate culture.
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We are still one Viking family with the same values.
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We consider fundamental: kindness, honesty, hard work, and thankfulness beyond our core operations.
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We continue to support educational, cultural, and scientific institutions, and this year we announced a sponsorship very close to home, becoming the main sponsor of the Norway National Soccer Team Academy and the country's youth national teams.
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The Academy gives committed young players the opportunity to develop further, and it is meaningful for us to contribute to the next generational talent.
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At Viking, we believe that with hard work, nothing is impossible, and the same is true in football.
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Growing up in Nittedal, I played a little bit of football myself, and we're very proud to support young people who love the game and aim for the top.
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It should also help build goodwill along the coast of Norway, one key area of our operations.
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Our 28th year in business was when the entire Viking family can be very proud of.
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And as we look ahead to 2026, there is much to look forward to.
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We will continue to grow a River fleet welcoming new Viking Longships in Europe, as well as new vessels on the Nile.
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We'll also welcome two new ocean ships, the Viking Mira and the Viking Libra.
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The Viking Libra is particularly exciting, actually it will be the world's first cruise ship partially powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
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It will be able to operate with zero emissions in the Norwegian fjords.
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From the very beginning, we have designed our ships thoughtfully to reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions, and we are proud that the Viking Libra will take this commitment even further.
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Overall bookings remain very strong, and we have reported that at the beginning of November, we were already 70% sold for 2026.
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We are also open departure dates for all of 2027, so I'd recommend booking early for the widest election of choices.
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As we think about the new year and what lies ahead, it is also worth remembering why travel matters.
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At Viking, we believe our guests return home as ambassadors for the countries they visited and the people that met along the way.
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These cultural exchanges make us kinder to another.
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It may sound simple, but we truly believe that the world is a slightly better place as a result of our travels.
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On behalf of the entire Viking family, happy New Year.
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Thank you for trusting Viking with your travels.
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We look forward to exploring more of the world together in Viking comfort.