Tauck’s decision to shut down all of its operations for close to a week for a recent celebration of its 100-year milestone is a reflection of its dedication to its employees and partners, according to Managing Director Australia David Clark.
“We closed all of our call centers globally and we sent every employee, regardless of tenure, to celebrate with the Tauck family,” Clark told LATTE at the Virtuoso ANZ Forum 2025 in Perth last week.
The entire company headed to Florence for the celebration, with attendees assembling in 13 hotels across the city from 3 to 6 February 2025. The program included general plenary meetings and focused breakout sessions, daily sightseeing excursions, gala evening events and an array of volunteerism activities.
Subscribe to LATTE Cruise’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.Tauck prides itself on a culture built around strong relationships and a commitment to excellence, Clark explained. This philosophy is deeply rooted in the values of the Tauck family, particularly the principles set out by Arthur Tauck, Jr., whose focus on “doing the right thing” continues to shape the company today.
An important part of this is taking care of staff and partners, with Clark pointing out the win-win nature of such an approach. “If you look after your partners and you look after staff, there will be a return at the end of the year,” he said.
At the heart of Tauck’s success lie its tour directors, according to Clark, with 350 dedicated professionals who are experts in their destinations and bring them to life for travellers. The role they play is demonstrated by the company’s strong repeat business rate – more than 50% of passengers return for additional tours.
“Once they see the Tauck difference, they tend to follow us,” he said.
The company’s culture also thrives on innovation and continuous improvement. Even as Tauck celebrates its century-long legacy, there is a clear focus on evolving for the future.
“We’re always looking to push the boundaries,” Clark said, referencing some of the new products and destinations on the cards for 2026. The company is also working hard to attract a younger demographic, and is already seeing success in this area thanks to its family-focused Bridges program which is proving very popular with the multigenerational market, he revealed.
“Grandparents that are already customers, they tend to want to show that experience, especially experiences like beautiful Christmas markets, off to the kids,” he said. “That creates incredible memories and exposes parents to our brand, but we’ve got a bit of work.”
Lead image, from left in Florence recently are Tauck’s Shauna Sullivan Reilly, Sales and Marketing Director; David Clark, MD Australia; Jeremy Palmer, President; Helen Eves, National Account Manager; Jerry Pilgrim, National Account Manager; Jennifer Tombaugh, CEO; Sophie Cirina, Reservations; Serisha Ramdhani, Head of Customer Service Australia; Samantha Bicknell, Reservations and Steve Spivak, Senior Vice President Global Sales / Customer Service.
