Happy Birthday to Tucan!

Global budget travel specialist Tucan partied late into the night this week as they celebrated their 20th anniversary in the business with founders, Pip and Liliana Tyler [Pictured right getting a roasting]letting their hair down with the mainly travel agent and media guests at Sydney’s Dockside Wallaby Bar and Director Matt Gannan joining in the fun by video link the Company’s London base.

Richard Leonard, Tucan’s Sydney based and dynamic Sales and Marketing Manager told the Mole that having worked all over South America in the early 1980’s, Pip and Liliana Tyler founded Tucan as one of the first South American adventure tour operations in 1987, naming company Tucan Travel, after the famous South American bird, with its traditional Latin American spelling) – their very first client even came to the party!

In 1997, they joined forces with an old adversary and fellow tour operator, Matt Gannan [Pictured right on the video link from London roasting Pip and Lilliana] and together, the owners drew on their local knowledge and experience, and pioneered many of the company routes.

Richard said that over the years Tucan has earned its excellent reputation by continuously improving itineraries and services and this has made Tucan the world’s leading Latin American adventure specialists with the widest range of travel styles available, with a professional team with unrivalled experience on the ground locally, as well as full back-up around the world from offices in London, Sydney and Cuzco.

Richard, [Pictured right with Pip] added that Tucan is still owned and managed by the same people who founded the company, and they and the whole Tucan team are just as passionate now as they were the day it all began.

Tucan operates under two brands, Tucan Travel and Budget Expeditions aka Bex and further information on the now very extensive range of tours to many part of the world now in addition to Latin America is available from www.tucantravel.com and www.budgetexpeditions.com

Bex also launched a new Overland Expedition in East and Southern Africa this week, with the tours travelling in modules from Nairobi, Kenya, to Cape Town, South Africa, through Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia. They include many of Africa’s most popular highlights and game parks including:

** Gorilla Trekking in the Vicarunga Mountains;

** Options to visit some of the most popular national parks including: Masaii Mara, National Park, Serengeti National Park, Ngorogoro Crater, Etosha National Park, Chobe National Park;

** Stopovers at the popular beachside island, Zanzibar;

** Livingstone with the option to visit the famous Victoria Falls;

** The tranquil wetland of the Okavango Delta; and

** The popular sand dunes at Namib-Naukluft National Park

All transport for the new tours will be on Budget Expeditions’ powerful Mercedes Benz overland vehicles – the same vehicles the company uses for their Overland expeditions in South America.

Budget Expeditions are offering a special introductory discount rate of 15% off for bookings for all Africa tours made from now until 31 October 2007.

Hey Tucan – Happy Birthday for The Mole

A Report by The Mole