30-year veteran of the travel industry joins Smithsonian Journeys

Walter Littlejohn joined Smithsonian Journeys, the Smithsonian’s travel division, as senior vice president Jan. 6. He will provide overall leadership and strategy for the division, which includes the adult/family and student travel programs.

Littlejohn brings over 30 years of experience to his new role. He was the senior vice president and managing director of Crystal Cruises, spearheading the launch of their highly acclaimed river cruise division. Prior to Crystal Cruises, he has held leadership positions for companies such as Expedia and AmaWaterways and most recently was a consultant to Silversea Cruises. He was also the co-founder and chief operation officer of Chartwell Vacations, which is a direct seller of its exclusive line of guided land and cruise tour vacations. Littlejohn holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and studied maritime business administration at Texas A&M University in Galveston.

Smithsonian Journeys is a global leader in cultural travel for diverse audiences, offering unique, expert-led trips on all seven continents. In addition to ocean cruises, Smithsonian Journeys offers small-group land journeys, river cruises, active journeys, cultural stays, private jet trips, tailor-made journeys for the independent traveler and student travel programs.

Journeys is part of Smithsonian Enterprises, a division of the Smithsonian that oversees the Institution’s commercial activities, including the Smithsonian Channel; the retail operation, which includes 35 museum and airport stores and food concessions; an E-commerce business, Smithsonianstore.com; Smithsonian magazine, which reaches more than 8 million monthly readers; consumer and education licensing; and books. www.SmithsonianJourneys.org.