How many travel companies do you know that have been in business for 100 years? Probably not too many. It’s not very common to work with a supplier that has a century of experience, but U.S.-based tour operator Tauck is celebrating 100 years in business this year. The tour operator offers an array of travel types, and they are organized into five main products: Land Journeys, Small Ship Cruising, European River Cruising, Tauck Bridges (family tours) and Small Group & Even Smaller Group Journeys.
The Compass recently sat down with Jeremy Palmer, president of Tauck, to learn more about this family-owned company as well as what’s new, travel trends and resources for travel advisors. Read on to learn more.
Who Is a Good Fit for Tauck?
“Our whole business practice is really based on trust, so we are looking for clients, we call them patrons, who not only enjoy the offerings we provide, but trust us to create an experience and create lifelong memories for them,” Palmer said.
Many of the guests traveling with Tauck are in their late 60s and early 70s, retirees that are curious and looking to explore the world in a meaningful way. “They’re curious; they care about details, and they really just want to be taken care of,” Palmer said. “So they’re very capable people, but at this stage of life, they’re looking to travel; they’re looking to keep that intellectual vitality alive, and we’re one of the ways that they choose to travel the world, because we take care of them.”
These tours and cruises are not only for the retirees though. It’s not uncommon for a couple to experience a product and then want to take their children next time, and then they’re children’s children the following time. Grandparents choose to spend their hard-earned money on multigenerational vacations all the time, and this is where the Tauck Bridges product comes into play.
“We have a very high repeat rate,” Palmer said. “Basically, if you’re on a tour with us, eight out of 10 people have either traveled with us before or were referrals of people who have traveled with us before, which I think speaks to this idea of trust and referral. And then a benefit for travel advisors with that, is once you do get someone to travel with Tauck … they trust us, and they keep coming back.”
Travel Trends
Along with a priority on value and elevated adults-only vacations, small group travel is among the consumer travel trends for 2025. Travelers are looking for that intimate attention to detail that can only be found when traveling with a smaller group. According to Palmer, Tauck’s small group business is popular right now.
“Small is big,” he said. “At Tauck, we have various group sizes, but we always aim to be on the smaller side in the industry so we can provide that care and that intimate interaction with culture. Those are really hot themes at the moment. Our small groups business is up almost 50% from before covid.”
Palmer also added that the shoulder seasons continue to do well. The company is seeing guests booking vacations in Q1 or Q4 to avoid the overcrowding that oftentimes comes with visiting a popular destination over the summer travel period.
What’s New?
As Tauck enters into its 100th year of existence, the company is seeing record levels of demand, especially for cruising. “We have more demand than capacity, and our river cruising segment is one of the hottest sectors overall,” Palmer said. “It’s incredibly popular with us; we’re up almost 20% before covid levels.”
In response to this demand, Palmer said Tauck is planning to add a number of ships over the next five years, starting with the launch of two new riverboats in France next year. “We’re adding two new vessels, custom built for us, both in France, one on the Rhône, one on the Seine,” he said. Tauck left it up to travel advisors, guests and employees to submit name ideas and recently revealed names and renderings of these vessels. The company landed on the ms Serene for the Seine and the ms Lumière for the Rhône.
In addition to the riverboats, Tauck also introduced Smaller Groups, which are journeys that average 15 guests, and several new itineraries.
“There are so many innovative ideas coming in terms of product, in terms of guest experience, but also the attention and the resources and time we’re putting on being better skilled at what we do and looking for new ways to think about the guests of the future,” Palmer said. “We’re so focused on that, and we’re investing so much time and resources that I’m really excited to share with advisors what we’re going to be rolling out over the next five years. I think it’s going to be really cool.”
Travel Advisor Resources
When it comes to supporting travel advisors, Tauck has several tools and resources to utilize. To get started, advisors can register on the advisor connect platform. Here they can take the Tauck Specialist program and not only become a certified advisor but have access to ready-made sales presentations, promotional materials and insider tips and promotions. Both live and recorded webinars are also hosted here.
Those wanting to take it one step further can apply for Tauck Academy, which is an in-person training program that immerses agents in the Tauck product, heritage and history. The program is offered four times each year, and on average, attendees end up growing their businesses by 25 percent.
Tauck also has a full team of people to support advisors with everything from getting brochures and marketing collateral to booking groups. “We have a whole wealth of things, where basically we just want to make sure we do the best job we can explaining our benefits and empowering (travel advisors) as much as possible to help sell our product,” Palmer said. “We really do approach everything as what we call ‘one global family.’ Relationships are the core of our businesses, and that just doesn’t extend to our guests, it extends to our supplier partners and our travel advisor partners. So we are looking for long-term relationships.”
To learn more, visit www.tauck.com.
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