A year to remember

Back to the Future Back to the Future

Whether it’s the stories we shared as our travels began anew in 2022 or the memories we made inside Tauck and out on the road, the pictures we took to chronicle our company’s journey this year speak volumes about our roles and goals as travel professionals. We’re happy to have you join us on this Connections adventure.

Tauck CEO Dan Mahar
Tauck CEO Dan Mahar

We’re back!

Tauck’s all company meetings are an annual event we all look forward to each year. They are informative and engaging with insights about our industry and our own roadmap to the future. 2022 marks the first time we were able to hold an indoor meeting since 2019 – and nearly 300 of us showed up, including members of the Tauck family, our Board of Directors, and employees from 27 states and seven foreign countries. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of happy tears in the room as we celebrated the most pivotal year in the history of our company – and one of the biggest rebounds in the industry!

CEO Dan Mahar addressed the gathering with heartfelt opening remarks. “Restarting operations from a complete shutdown was a daunting challenge, but our staged restart in 2021 paved the way for this year’s success, and in turn this year’s success has given us the experience, resources and momentum to continue moving forward in 2023. It’s the people that power our industry and they came together to make dreams come true for so many. Our travel advisors and partner-suppliers were critical to our success this year, and our exceptional restart wouldn’t have been possible without them. Once again, we are able to be a positive force for good in our world and we are so appreciative of all the people who played a role in making this happen.”

Tauck Family
Proud 2022 highlights included:
Hosting the same number of guests as we did in 2019, on trips in 61 different countries and on all seven continents
Earning high guest satisfaction scores in line with 2019 levels
Achieving near record-high advanced bookings for the coming year
Travel + Leisure

We’re honored by your votes

Big news here at Tauck! For our 25th consecutive year, we’ve been recognized on the “World’s Best Awards” list, thanks to the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. What’s more, we were the only company named to both the “World’s Best River Cruise Lines” and “World’s Best Tour Operators” lists. We also were named among Conde Nast Readers’ Choice Awards for in the river cruise category, another incredible honor we are proud to share with you, our loyal patrons and industry partners around the world. THANK YOU!

 

The 42nd Passion Play in 400 years

Our guests have to wait 10 years between performances of the “Passionsspiele Oberammergau,” making it one of the most sought-after experiences in European travel. Postponed from its scheduled opening 2020 due to COVID, more than # guests (asking Yield) were able to see the play with us during select riverboat and land journeys. Was it worth the wait? According to guest Jim van Vranken, “We will never forget our trip to see the Passion! Words can’t explain it so I won’t try to. The Palm Sunday procession and crucifixion scenes are still vivid in our memory after 20 years.”

 

Dinner at Arthur’s

Officially celebrating a true taste of New England, Arthur and Roni Tauck invite us to enjoy a traditional lobster bake at their beachfront home every summer. This year, marking our return back to Arthur’s beach after a two-year hiatus, three generations of the Tauck family hosted our Wilton headquarters staff for a shorefront dinner delectable in every way. From the smiles on everyone’s faces, Arthur more than lives up the promise his father made in Tauck’s first ad in 1925. “We shall be just one happy party, properly chaperoned, out for a real good time.”

When things go sideways

After testing positive for COVID on one of their back- to-back tours, 9-time Tauck guests Dick Chun and his wife had to cancel their Norwegian Fjords & Coastal Treasures cruise. They appreciated the full refund and extra assistance we offered them, pleasantly surprised by our mission to “always do the right thing.”

“Tauck uses the word ‘lagniappe’ to describe the delightful surprises we receive on tour… Being piped into dinner in Scotland and Ireland, witnessing sunset at Uluru with a glass of sparkling wine, being serenaded by an octet at the Postojna Caves. All memorable, but it’s how companies respond when things go sideways that really make a difference. Their Tauck Directors always have a Plan B on tours. And now we’ve seen that Tauck has a Plan B for its guests too.”

Stories from the Road

Tauck travel isn’t about going it alone. It takes the passion and dedication of a team of travel experts who share one common goal: Make sure our guests have the time of their lives wherever they travel with us.

 

Our Sales Team is happy to be back together again

Ready to sail into a new year of travel, our Sales Team didn’t waste any time reconnecting with our Advisor Partners across the globe at consumer events, conferences, advisor trainings and more this year.  In October, the Tauck Sales team headed north to the Canadian Rockies for their long-awaited return of Tauck Academy, our travel advisor certification program, which includes in-depth classroom training on selling Tauck combined with a tour experience in one of our most popular destinations.  This seven-day experience took 29 advisors from the US and Canada to Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise in Alberta and was hosted in partnership with Travel Alberta. The Sales Team is looking forward to hosting its next Tauck Academy in Jordan in partnership with Visit Jordan in December 2022.

Tauck Academy
Tauck Academy at the Fairmont Banff Springs
Sales Team

We were excited to reopen our international sales offices!

Not only were we excited to reopen our international sales offices, we were proud to welcome both new and familiar faces representing Tauck internationally in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada. Our international team is looking forward to connecting with our advisor partners to continue our growth in these key markets and get the word out to more international guests.
Pictured here: Tom Dumbrell (on the left) National Account Manager, UK & Ireland, Helen Eves (left center), National Account Manager, Australia, David Clark (right center), Managing Director Australia and Joe Scardigno (on the right), National Account Manager, Canada.

Ginny Caragol and Beau The Labrador

Douro delights

Ginny Caragol of Valerie Wilson Travel joined Robin Tauck and our guests on Villages and Vintages: Cruising the Douro River Valley in June, where the memories she made come back to life in a wonderful blog she shared with us.

 

Who’s a good dog?

In a new partnership between our partner hotel in New Zealand, the Park Hyatt Auckland, and a local non-profit organization, Blind Low Vision NZ, Beau the Labrador Retriever, has taken up full time residency as a canine concierge. Beau’s job description includes greeting guests on arrival, assisting with luggage, monitoring guest and client movement in the lobby, playing with guests and daily rounds of the admin offices to play with his colleagues.

 

Five things you may not know about St. Patrick’s Day

John Bryne and guests in Ireland

So that our guests enjoy the inside scoop on the places we visit, we partner with expert guides who share personal anecdotes and insights that enrich their explorations. We invited our Galway guide, John Byrne, to our weekly company meeting on St. Patrick’s Day via Zoom to do the same for us. Little did we know that he would dispel some myths about this true “Irish holiday.”

1. St. Patrick wasn’t Irish.
2. The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in America.
3. St. Patrick is not referred to as Pat or Patty in Ireland.
4. Corn beef and cabbage is not a thing in Ireland.
And 5. Pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day until the 1970s when the law was repealed and revelers could raise a glass to St. Patrick.

 

 

Walking in Jerusalem

Our long-time partner in Israel and a licensed guide, Shelley Trachtenberg, took us on a fascinating virtual walk through the Old City of Jerusalem this summer, zooming in on the historic sights she shows our guests on tours like Jerusalem, The Red Sea & Petra, from The Tower of David, the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall to the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock and more. She also hosted an insideTauck event that had more than 7,000 viewers, testimony to just how popular this destination is for travelers.

 

 


Going the Extra Mile

It goes without saying that our Tauck Directors are an important part of the guest experience, renowned for their experience, expertise and engaging personalities. But that’s just part of the story. They are also known for going above and beyond for our guests, being the calm in the storm, the friend who makes the good times more fun and the one you want when the going gets tough.

A Seder to remember

Tauck Director Jaime Cojac (pictured below right) is religious about making sure our guests’ best interests are top of mind. She was traveling on Belgium & Holland in Spring during Passover when a group of Jewish guests asked her if they could sit together for a Passover Seder onboard ms Treasures. Jamie was able to gather all of the ingredients for the Seder plate and worked with the chef to prepare everything accordingly. She also printed out a Haggadah so the guests had the appropriate prayers to say. They were beyond appreciative!

A Seder to Remember

 

 

Salt MinesSliding into the Salt Mines for dinner

Giving new meaning to the phrase “pass the salt,” Tauck Directors Armin Geiger and Carmine Sannuto sped down the miners’ slide in Berchtesgaden Salt Mines to make sure everything was on track for our guests’ special dinner on The Ultimate Alps & Dolomites.

 

A most memorable Memorial Day cruise

Making sure guests have a good time on tour is not just lip service at Tauck. It’s a way of life for our Tauck Directors out on the road, or on the river as in the case of the following story. Guests Charlie and Jane Gibbons wrote us about the “magic carpet” experiences they enjoyed on The Romantic Rhine: Amsterdam to Basel over Memorial Day, thanks to Tauck Director Pavol Hospodar and Cruise Director Joyce Gleeson-Adamidi, who orchestrated a surprise birthday celebration, and made sure guests who had mobility issues didn’t miss any sightseeing experiences.
Tauck Guest

“These are just the tip of the iceberg to the personal touches, caring service and outstanding team you have assembled. They are so caring and constantly anticipating and providing the unexpected and in the proverbial “putting oil upon a rough sea” to smooth our journey.

 

 

A bumper crop of babies

After we were shut in during the shut-down, we were delighted to welcome a bumper crop of babies to Tauck this year, where a lifelong passion for travel starts early!

 

Poetic Inspirations

When our guests write poems about their Tauck Directors, you know just how inspiring they are to travel with. We are delighted to share an epic sonnet guest Alan Schaffter penned this year about Tauck Director Debra Grant on Jordan & Egypt: Petra to the Pyramids:

Let’s raise our glasses for a toast
To honor Debra who gave us her most-
For incredible sights in Petra, Giza, and on the Nile’s banks
She did it all, did it well, so we owe her baksheesh, and our thanks
Could desert sand or emotions be why
As we say ma’a as-salaama or just good bye
Some are blinking, a few with moist eye
After a tour that is surely one of Tauck’s best
Let’s hope for a negative on our PCR test
Inshallah!
Assalamu alaikum

Tauck CEO Dan Mahar
Tauck CEO Dan Mahar

We’re back!

Tauck Family
Tauck family and board members address the team

Tauck’s all company meetings are an annual event we all look forward to each year. They are informative and engaging with insights about our industry and our own roadmap to the future. 2022 marks the first time we were able to hold an indoor meeting since 2019 – and nearly 300 of us showed up, including members of the Tauck family, our Board of Directors, and employees from 27 states and seven foreign countries. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of happy tears in the room as we celebrated the most pivotal year in the history of our company – and one of the biggest rebounds in the industry!

We were excited to reopen our international sales offices!

International NAMsNot only were we excited to reopen our international sales offices, we were proud to welcome both new and familiar faces representing Tauck internationally in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada.  Our international team is looking forward to connecting with our advisor partners to continue our growth in these key markets and get the word out to more international guests.

Pictured here: Tom Dumbrell (on the left) National Account Manager, UK & Ireland, Helen Eves (left center), National Account Manager, Australia, David Clark (right center), Managing Director Australia and Joe Scardigno (on the right), National Account Manager, Canada.

 

Travel + Leisure

We’re honored by your votes

Big news here at Tauck! For our 25th consecutive year, we’ve been recognized on the “World’s Best Awards” list, thanks to the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. What’s more, we were the only company named to both the “World’s Best River Cruise Lines” and “World’s Best Tour Operators” lists. We also were named among Conde Nast Readers’ Choice Awards for in the river cruise category, another incredible honor we are proud to share with you, our loyal patrons and industry partners around the world. THANK YOU!

 

 

When things go sideways

After testing positive for COVID on one of their back- to-back tours, 9-time Tauck guests Dick Chun and his wife had to cancel their Norwegian Fjords & Coastal Treasures cruise. They appreciated the full refund and extra assistance we offered them, pleasantly surprised by our mission to “always do the right thing.”

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