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In the Press
Everyone Talks About the Private Island. The Real Story Is the People Behind It
Most visitors assume Bumble Expeditions' competitive advantage is its private island. It isn't. The cove, the wildlife, the kind of stillness that's nearly impossible to find anywhere else in Alaska. None of that is wrong to notice. It's just not the whole answer. Beneath the island's beauty sits something harder to photograph and far more important to the business: the people who built it, and the ones now...
The most memorable part of an Alaska vacation isn't what you think
Travel long enough, and a pattern starts to show up. Ask someone about the best trip they've ever taken, and they usually won't begin with the scenery. They'll remember a guide, a server, or even a stranger who made an ordinary moment feel unexpectedly personal. The places people love most are rarely defined by the best meal or the most famous landmark. They're remembered...
Bumble Expeditions LLC Receives 2026 Global Recognition Award for Transforming Wildlife and Hospitality Experiences
Bumble Expeditions LLC has earned national recognition for transforming Alaska tourism through personalized wildlife experiences, private island access, and strategic business expansion. Its innovative approach, strong leadership, operational discipline, and commitment to exceptional hospitality have established it as a ...
From Alaska’s Waters to National Recognition: Inside Bumble Expeditions’ Founder-Led Rise
In the fog-thick waters off Sitka, where cruise ships crowd the harbor for a few frantic months each year, Sara Hadad-Dembs and Cole Dembs have spent three seasons proving that a tourism business can be built on restraint rather than volume, and their approach has earned Bumble Expeditions LLC a 2026 Global Recognition Award...
How Bumble Expeditions Built an Economic Moat in Alaska Tourism
In investing, Warren Buffett popularized the idea of an economic moat: a durable competitive advantage that protects a business long after its first success. While the concept is usually associated with global corporations, Bumble Expeditions, a tourism company founded in Sitka, Alaska, in 2023, has quietly applied the same principle on a much smaller scale, building competitive advantages designed to become stronger...
Bumble Expeditions Announces Alaska Tourism Expansion After Securing Seven International Cruise Line Contracts
Bumble Expeditions has grown from a Sitka shore excursions provider into one of Alaska's leading tourism businesses. Following seven international cruise line contracts, it expanded into Alaska cruise excursions, wildlife tours, a private island experience, vacation...
From Spam-for-Dinner to an Alaska Private Island: How Bumble Expeditions Built One of Alaska’s Most Unconventional Tourism Businesses
The founders behind Bumble Expeditions turned an outsider mindset into a vertically integrated tourism company built around community, creativity, and people...
The Private Island Experience in Alaska is Reserved for Just Five Groups Each Season
There is a kind of luxury that has nothing to do with thread counts or champagne on arrival. It is the luxury of having an island to yourself, of stepping off a boat into a...
Experience the aurora borealis from a national forest in Sitka
Bumble Expeditions, an outfitter offering whale tours, Sikta land tours, and a lunch tour at Mertz Island, can match northern lights viewing along with other experiences...
Alfresco Stress Relief!
VISIT A PRIVATE ISLAND
When Sara Hadad-Dembs and her husband bought Mertz Island — a 3.75-acre oasis in Sitka — a few years ago, their goal was to share it with others. “Sitka’s landscape is a...
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