About Huron Tours and Travel

Huron Tours and Travel New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

Thanks for visiting Huron Tours and Travel’s Jazz Fest Tour blog.  We love New Orleans, and are so proud to be able to offer a package tour to this incredible event in the city we call home.

Huron Tours and Travel is a very experienced travel company specializing in custom-built excursions.  You found us because of your interest in New Orleans, or the Jazz Fest specifically.  We also have wonderful trips for events such as the Chelsea Flower Show in London, the Puccini Opera Festival in Italy, New York’s Westminster Dog Show, The Philadelphia Flower Show, Tennis at Wimbledon, Munich’s Oktoberfest and more.  Please click here to see a list of our past tours. We have had the pleasure of giving great vacations to thousands of discerning travelers, many of whom have traveled with us on 10, 15, and even 20 different trips!

As an family-owned and owner-managed company, Huron Tours and Travel, Inc. (HVT) was one of the first travel agencies in Michigan, founded in Ann Arbor in 1961 as Hodges Travel. In 1977 it was then purchased by local investors and renamed Huron Valley Travel. In 1985 John Kosta purchased the business and within the first ten years he grew Huron Valley Travel from from $1 million in sales to more than $7 million.

In 1987, HVT was designated the exclusive tour provider for the Ann Arbor Flower & Garden Show, and handled the arrangements for 37 separate tour groups and garden club visits. The agency offered its first garden tour to England three years later. In the ensuing years, Huron Valley Travel has taken more garden lovers to London’s Chelsea Flower Show than any other United States company and is considered by many to be the number one provider of Chelsea Flower Show trips to travelers from the United States. Expanding into the tour market, HVT designed and escorted dozens of tours to events all over the world. (See our Tour History for complete listing.)

Over the past few years, as a result of many changes in the travel industry, the entire focus of Huron Valley Travel has slowly turned exclusively to group tours. To reflect that change, in early 2009 Huron Valley Travel was renamed Huron Tours & Travel.

Another new and exciting development for 2009 is the addition of a new member of the Huron Tours & Travel family. Katie Kosta, John Kosta’s daughter-in-law has taken over his role as President of Huron Tours & Travel, and has moved HTT headquarters from Ann Arbor, MI to her hometown of New Orleans. Katie is an avid traveler and has finally turned that love into her full-time profession. She is full of energy and is eager to tell you all about our upcoming tours and has many new exciting adventures in the works. John is going to try his hands at retirement, but will be continuing on in an advisory role and rest assured you will see him on many upcoming tours. He is excited to have added someone with such a passion for travel and people to the Huron team.

As always, we strive for an excellent travel experience for all our guests from the first e-mail or phone call to the last farewell! Keep watching www.HuronToursAndTravel.com for all the latest tour updates