references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . april 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message group voyagers inc. founded 1928 1928 headquarters littleton colorado united states locale eu nz au us ca service type package tours chief executive sergio mantegazza website http groupvoyagers.com group voyagers inc. also known as the globus family of brands is a group of escorted tour river cruise and independent travel package companies marketed worldwide . they include the brands globus cosmos 1 avalon waterways 2 and monograms . 3 4 contents 1 timeline 2 present 3 references 4 external links timeline edit the globus family of brands traces its history to 1928 when antonio mantegazza started using a rowing boat to transport commercial goods across lake lugano in switzerland . 5 over time mantegazza acquired motorcoaches to transport tourists around the lake lugano area in southern switzerland . boasting a fleet of 12 coaches operating local excursions for european tourists in switzerland mantegazza called his new venture globus viaggi . by 1950 the company operated 33 coaches with overnight excursions to rome venice the dolomites and french riviera . gradually the overnight excursions became regularly scheduled tours and grew longer to cover more ground . later that decade under the leadership of werner albek antonio s business partner globus pioneered the concept of grand european touring by offering first class european tours to united states citizens . 5 in 1961 the group launched cosmos originally referred to as cosmos holidays in the united kingdom offering value priced european touring for the cost conscious traveler . from 1975 under sergio mantegazza son of antonio and current president of globus the company s brands began expanding their markets beyond uk with packages to africa australia north and south america southeast asia europe and the south pacific . also in the early 70s globus launched its north american company group voyagers inc. overseeing u.s. operations and the american market for the globus and cosmos brands . 5 in 2004 globus launched a cruise company avalon waterways . 6 in the same year it launched monograms which provides consumers independent travel packages . 7 present edit the globus family of brands now consists of more than 30 tourism and aviation businesses serviced by more than 5 000 staff . the companies escorted and independent vacations offer nearly 10 000 departures and over 400 different itineraries covering more than 65 countries on six continents . combined the travel brands carry nearly 500 000 passengers per year making the globus the largest tour operator worldwide . 8 references edit travel industry finds adventure now ageless new york times avalon waterways company information cruise critic monograms and venice independent traveler company web site a b c around the world in 80 years travelage west april 2008 avalon waterways celebrates a decade in river cruising travelage west june 2014 globus hits 80 vacation agent september 2008 globus travel around the world in 80 years travel agent august 2008 external links edit globus family of brands web site globus web site cosmos web site monograms web site avalon waterways web site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title group voyagers & oldid 667729765 categories group voyagerstravel and holiday companies of the united statesbus operating companiesriver cruise companiescompanies based in coloradoamerican companies established in 19281928 in switzerlandhidden categories articles lacking reliable references from april 2011all articles lacking reliable references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 20 june 2015 at 06 02 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view