Joost Ouendag

Joost Ouendag has been with Viking since 2002. Before that, he worked for one of America’s largest tour operators, covering the United States and Canada. Since joining Viking, he has shaped the company’s river cruises around the world for more than ten years, and he now focuses on ocean and expedition cruising. Joost has worked at the company’s Woodland Hills, California, office but now works in Basel, Switzerland. He lived and studied in The Netherlands and Germany, and he holds a master’s degree in linguistics from Utrecht University.

Irene Pieper

Irene Pieper is the Director Product Development of river land operations responsible for our river fleet worldwide, managing all initiatives for new shore excursions and itineraries. In 2012, Irene joined Viking as the purchasing manager for land operations. Between 2016 and 2018 she was highly involved in establishing the China Outbound project for Viking and was soon promoted to her current position in July 2018.

Irene Pieper studied tourism management at the Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. She started her career in tourism as a tour leader accompanying worldwide group travels and worked for several years as a program director on the European rivers. Prior to joining Viking, Irene worked at Vantage Deluxe World Travel as the regional vice president and buyer responsible for overseeing the operations and managing contracts for river cruise products