|
| |
He's the canny nuclear physicist turned
shipping mogul who founded Viking River
Cruises. Vincent Graff meets Torstein Hagen...
Torstein Hagen smiles a lot. It's a wry smile, almost inscrutable, and sometimes accompanied by a truncated chuckle or a sneaky wink of the eye. It's difficult to know what to make of the founder and chairman of Viking River Cruises, and you sense that's just the way he likes it.
The chances are you haven't heard of Mr Hagen, but his is an unusual story. Born by the river just outside Oslo, and a nuclear physicist with a Harvard MBA, he made a multi million-pound fortune in the shipping and cruise industries, only to lose it twice before making it again each time.
|
| |
 |
|
He regularly flies easyJet, yet mixes with some of the wealthiest people in society (he's a chum and one-time tennis partner of advertising behemoth Sir Martin Sorrell). You get the impression that, at 68, the Norwegian knows exactly what he wants and is at the top of his game.
Not for him a slowing-down, more time at home or an escape from the office. “I don’t believe in a balanced life,” he says. Another wry grin. “I think a balanced life is for wimps.” |
|
|
He’s certainly busy at the moment. His company Viking River Cruises recently announced the imminent arrival of four new state-of-the-art cruise ships, which will sail the Rhine, Main and Danube from next year.
He proudly shows me an artist’s impression of the new vessels, all the while explaining his hands-on role in tweaking the designs. The luxury rooms – each of them with a full-size veranda – look very inviting and comfortable.
Hagen says that river cruising “is at a tipping point. People have suddenly realised that this is a holiday like no other. River cruising has come of age. It’s perfect for the experienced traveller, someone who’s maybe in their mid-50s or above. You get taken right into the centre of beautiful cities – Moscow, St Petersburg, Budapest, Vienna – and you only have to unpack once. Everything is taken care of. Tips are the only thing we don’t include in the price.”
|
|
| |
 |
|
The figures appear to back this up. Despite the state of the overall economy, the sector is buoyant – around 134,000 UK passengers took a river cruise in 2010, up eight per cent on the previous year. It seems that, increasingly, holidaymakers are opting to take smaller river cruises rather than board vast liners that sail the oceans.
Hagen, who has extensive experience in both sectors, says choosing a river cruise is a “no-brainer”.
|
|
|
“Who the hell wants to be on a 4,000-passenger ship?” he asks. “Maybe I’m a little bit of a snob. But on the big ships there are too many queues, too many staff, too many kids. At this stage in life I think one wants to be taken good care of and have peace and quiet.”
Accordingly, his new ships have a maximum capacity of 200 passengers, and their small size means that they can sail right into the centre of cities, rather than simply dumping holidaymakers at an ugly port on the outskirts.
Time for another wry smile. “There’s one more advantage to taking a river cruise,” Hagen says. “You don’t get seasick. It’s not much of a fun holiday if you find yourself feeding the fish all the time.”
There are other differences too. “We have the best staff,” he claims. Why? “Because we pay them more, and they’re employees of ours.” (Many of the big cruise companies subcontract their catering.)
|
Hagen launched the company in 1997, after his daughter, who was living in Russia, took a river cruise. Hagen realised the potential of the industry. Within no time, he’d bought four ships and Viking was born. By next year, there’ll be 24 ships in his fleet, all offering the “intimate experience” of a small floating hotel. But Hagen’s career has, as he himself admits, seen its fair share of disasters as well as success.
So what of the low points?
|
|
 |
|
“Yes, I lost everything – twice,” he concedes. “Everything apart from the house.” The first time was 17 years ago when he launched an unsuccessful bid to take over the Dutch shipping company Nedlloyd. “And on top of that I got cancer that year,” he recalls with a grimace. “It was my annus horribilis. Isn’t that what the Queen called it?”
Still, he must have been fairly worried to realise he had no money, no business — and a potentially fatal illness?
“No, I have no fear of anything – nothing. Maybe I will one day. But today I’m obsessed with trying to do outstanding things. I think we have an outstanding company here, an outstanding product, and I’m proud of it.” |
|
There is, of course, a great irony here. For Hagen’s mission with Viking is to cater for people who have navigated the ups and downs of life and are at the stage of considering putting their career behind them (or have already done so); people who are slowing down a little, who want a more considered holiday experience and have time to appreciate the finer things.
“A river cruise is a phenomenal experience for people who’ve worked hard and now want a bit of peace and quiet,” he says.
|
|
 |
|
Quite so. So does this mean he is eyeing up retirement and all the relaxing river cruise holidays that might bring? “I couldn’t retire,” he says, with another grin. “If I did that, I’d die.”
|
| Explore more about river cruising > |
| |
|
| |