Tauck brings staff together for first time since 2019

By James Harrison

Tauck’s office and support staff from across the country and around the world gathered recently in Connecticut for the first time in three years to celebrate the company’s remarkable successes in 2022, and its return from the pandemic.

Nearly 300 Tauck office employees from seven foreign countries descended on Tauck’s headquarters for a series of departmental meetings, evening social events, and an off-site “all-company” keynote address and celebration.

“Our industry has achieved something really special – it’s truly the accomplishment of a lifetime – and I hope all of our advisor-partners and supplier-partners feel the same sense of pride that we do,” Tauck CEO Dan Mahar said.

“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.”

Speaking to Tauck’s employees, board directors and other Tauck family members during the keynote, Mahar shared a string of metrics highlighting the company’s rebound from COVID. During its 2022 operating season, Mahar noted that Tauck:

Hosted guests in 61 different countries and on all seven continents.
Operated within 5 per cent of 2019 levels on its North America, Europe, Bridges and river cruising itineraries, combined.
Earned guest satisfaction scores in line with 2019 levels.
Achieved near record-high advanced bookings for the coming year.

Tauck president Jennifer Tombaugh and Mahar

Along the way, Mahar added, the company also found the time and bandwidth to launch several new tour itineraries, with more currently in development. And for the 25th consecutive year, he noted, Tauck was honored in Travel + Leisure’s “World’s Best Awards” when it was voted by the magazine’s readers to both the “World’s Best River Cruise Lines” and “World’s Best Tour Operators” lists.

Guest satisfaction metrics on par with record levels

In thanking and recognizing Tauck’s staff for the year’s results, Mahar put the company’s success in perspective.

“Few companies operated with the depth and breadth we did this year,” Mahar said, “and incredibly – and despite significant challenges facing our industry – we were able to scale our operations while keeping our guest satisfaction scores on par with our very high, pre-Covid standards.”

Upon taking the stage at the start of the event, and before speaking to the assembled crowd, Mahar lit a ceremonial “porchlight” and displayed it prominently for all to see. The gesture was an indicator of how far Tauck had come. When Tauck first announced it was suspending all of its tour and cruise operations in the spring of 2020, Mahar began authoring a series of “Porchlight” emails that were sent to the company’s guests, travel advisors and partner-suppliers.

“The porchlight represented a symbol of home and a beacon to inspire our industry to remain optimistic for a return ‘home’ to travel again,” Mahar said. Although the Porchlight emails addressed a variety of topics, they all underscored that Tauck was hard at work preparing to welcome guests back just as soon as travel could resume.

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Dan Mahar Jennifer Tombaugh Porchlight tauck