Tauck is marking a milestone-850 departures since its restart in 2021.
Guests traveling on Tauck's "Antarctica" cruise were treated to a surprise champagne toast to celebrate the important achievement. The celebratory event took place at Tauck's featured pre-cruise hotel in Buenos Aires where the journey began. It will finish in Ushuaia, Argentina.
"We're celebrating not only our 850th departure but also the fact that we've successfully operated 96 different journeys in 36 countries on five continents around the world," noted Tauck CEO Dan Mahar.
"It's easy to forget that less than a year ago, 100% of our tours and cruises were still paused due to COVID-19, and that it wasn't until January and February of this year that we resumed operations with our first departures of a single itinerary, our 'Wonderland: Yellowstone in Winter' trip," he added.
Mahar also marveled at the breadth of Tauck's 2021 offerings, which included so much of the company's global portfolio. Land programs took place across North America, South America, Europe and Africa. River cruises traveled the Rhine, Danube, Seine, Rhone, Douro and Nile, and small ship ocean cruises set sail in Greece, Iceland, the Mediterranean, the Dalmatian Coast, the Galapagos Islands and Antarctica.
Mahar added that Tauck was still able to provide guests with an experience that lived up to the company's standards despite COVID-related challenges.
"We track our guest satisfaction metrics with extraordinary care," said Mahar, "and overall, our 2021 scores have been on par with our 2019 results. And in many areas-including our European land tours and river cruises, our small ship ocean cruises, and our journeys to exotic destinations-our 2021 scores actually exceeded 2019."
He also remains optimistic about 2022. "The world is in a much better place in December 2021 versus December 2020, and so is our industry," said Mahar. "Last year at this time, just seven million vaccine shots had been deployed globally, and borders were largely shuttered. Today, more than eight billion vaccine shots have been administered, borders are open and global travel has resumed in a meaningful way."
Mahar also believes that 2022 could have the potential to reach 2019 levels.
"The experience we gained this year positions us perfectly to continue our robust recovery in 2022, which will not only serve Tauck well, but also our guests, our travel advisor partners, and our supplier partners around the world."
In order to prepare for a busy year ahead, the company is hiring reservation staff for its sales center and adding capacity to key regions for 2022, including Switzerland, Italy, Canada and the U.S. National Parks.
Mahar advised guests and travel advisors to act quickly to secure their itineraries.
"A wave is coming, and I'd encourage guests and travel advisors alike to plan ahead and act soon to secure their preferred Tauck trips and departure dates," he said.
Mahar also thanked travel advisors and supplier partners for their support.
"I'm tremendously proud of how we all came together to restart our industry. Collectively we demonstrated resilience and adaptability and we worked together in new and creative ways to serve our guests and resume our purpose of making the world a better place," said Mahar. "Success in our business comes down to people and I'm deeply grateful and inspired by the collective care and commitment shown not only by Tauck's own team, but also by our travel advisor partners and our global network of supplier-partners. Their collective efforts have enabled our successful restart, and have positioned our industry for continued growth in 2022."
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