On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the family-owned company bearing his family name, Chris Herschend has a lot to be pleased with.
“The thing I'm most proud of in the company is how you can pretty much talk to anybody in the business—at any level—and ask them, ‘What's our mission?’ And they know it’s ‘Creating memories worth repeating,’” Chris says.
April 1 marks 75 years to the day that Chris’ grandparents began offering memorable tours into Marvel Cave in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. The company calls the anniversary “Founders Day.” Since that spring morning in 1950 when Hugo and Mary Herschend—along with their sons Jack and Pete—first opened for business, Herschend (the current name of the company) has grown into an admired attractions operator with a big mission.