How the President of Avalon Waterways Successfully Went From Ship to Shore

Read The Article On Women Leading Travel and Hospitality

Written By: Cindy Bertram

Many women who have successfully built a career in the travel industry fell in love with travel when they were quite young. For Pam Hoffee, president of Avalon Waterways, travel was a part of her family but in a bit of a different way. Hoffee’s father was in the Air Force. She grew up hearing her father share fascinating stories of exotic places, and as a result, she wanted to travel the world like her father.

Hoffee got accepted to do a summer internship and this was how she first got involved in travel. The internship was on board a World Explorer Alaskan cruise ship. And doing that summer internship resulted in Hoffee working as a shore excursion manager full time on board World Explorer Cruises. From there, Hoffee moved up to director of operations for World Explorer Cruises and transferred to its corporate office in San Francisco. As director of operations, Hoffee created several itineraries for World Explorer Cruises. One was a Panama Canal program.

In 2003, Hoffee decided to return to her home state of Colorado and began working for the Globus family of brands. She initially managed the product department, where she was responsible for all aspects of the tour planning and brochure production in North, Central and South America as well as the South Pacific and Asia. In 2005 Hoffee was named vice president, product and operations for Globus family of brands. In 2018, she became chief operating officer and managing director of Avalon Waterways. In April 2022, Hoffee became president of Avalon Waterways.

Hoffee’s Advice:

• The Value of Doing an Internship. Hoffee wanted to travel, and this occurred after hearing stories that her father shared with her. But when she decided to do a summer internship on that World Explorer Alaska cruise, it truly gave her a first taste of travel. And had she not decided to do that summer internship that might not have occurred.
• The Importance of Stories. Hoffee’s father worked in the Air Force, and the stories he shared fascinated her. And this created her interest in traveling of course. Beyond that? The meaningful experiences that she was able to help orchestrate created even more wonderful positive true stories.
• Finding Different Ways to Give Back. When Hoffee was working as director of operations for World Explorer Cruises, she was able to create new and different itineraries. She mentioned that her favorite part of that job was creating meaningful experiences between the ship’s passengers and local people. During one particular holiday cruise, Hoffee organized a special holiday party on board the ship for local children when that ship was docked in Guatemala. The cruise line as well as the passengers on board donated so many special gifts and presents for these local children and it had such a positive impact.
• How to Leverage Your Expertise and Move Forward. After doing that special summer internship on the World Explorer Alaskan cruise, Hoffee got her first taste as far as traveling and she was able to then start working full time as a shore excursion manager. Hoffee designed and implemented land tours. She was then able to continue moving forward in her career. Becoming director of operations gave her a new area of expertise. Had she not had that previous expertise, it might have been a bit harder for her land a position working for the Globus Family of Brands. Moving up in her career there led her to moving forward and becoming president of Avalon Waterways, part of the Globus Family of Brands.
• Being Part of a Great Family of Brands. When the term family comes up, people immediately think about their own personal family. But another way to think about family also extends into the business world. Globus family of brands is one fantastic example and Hoffee working in different positions for the Globus family of brands for over 20 years now displays her enjoyment of being part of a great family of brands.