Company History
Contrary to local belief, the unique idea of a Duck Tour did not originate in Boston. Duck operations have been in existence in the Midwest for decades, and in fact, continue to thrive. What we did, however, is take a unique product and improve and enhance it, while at the same time bringing it to a major metropolitan city. Although this sounds simple, the process from start to finish took nearly two years, “100 halls of government” and fierce determination by an ex-banker, Andy Wilson, who felt that there was more to life than the standard 9-5, corporate world.
What began as a four-Duck, 15-employee business on October 4, 1994, has grown to a 28-Duck, 200-employee powerhouse in the Boston tourism market. Since inception, Boston Duck Tours was voted by Boston Magazine as “Best of Boston” in the city tour category, and voted Boston.com’s “Best City Tour”. The company also was honored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce at their Small Business of the Year Luncheon, Wilson was named Small Businessperson of the Year for Massachusetts, and he also received a Spirit of Enterprise Award from the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. On a busy day in 1994, we carried 600 passengers, compared to 4,600 during our peak season today.
The growth of Boston Duck Tours has been extremely important. However, we firmly believe that growth at the expense of quality is unacceptable. We continuously strive to improve upon the safety of the Ducks, the quality of our tour, the happiness of our employees and the support for the Boston community. We remain committed to strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship we have worked so hard to establish with the city of Boston.
In 2000, Andy Wilson left Boston Duck Tours to pursue other projects. His management team took over the company and has continued to build upon its foundation. The company is Boston’s Most Popular Tour and one of the best things to do in Boston!
