On The Deck: Angela Caes
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Tauck River Cruises has one of the most interesting histories in the business. Founded in 1925 by Arthur Tauck, the company made its name, first and foremost as a tour operator, conducting motor tours around the back streets of New England. Fast forward over 85 years and it’s little surprise that the company is now one of the most successful luxury tour operators in the industry. However, it also offers one of the most comprehensive, luxury river cruise packages available. With river cruising the segment everybody is currently talking about, we caught up with Angela Caes, global sales director for Tauck to discuss the company, its offering and what makes it so different.
What is your role and what does that entail?
I’ve been with the company for 11 years and I oversee all global sales. That’s basically anything outside of the US. As a company Tauck has welcomed travellers from over 30 different countries as an operator. We were the very first licensed operator in Canada and the US. We have a very specific philosophy and that transcends across our whole business. We offer over 100 itineraries to 70 countries and that includes significant river cruising, small groups safaris, small ship cruising and family travel amongst others.
What is the Tauck philosophy?
It’s about travelling with a company that believes in going into the destination rather than just seeing it. It wants to bring an inclusive experience. We’re a family run company of three generations. We will give you an experience that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get on your own. We’re looking to bring you something out of the ordinary. The people who work on our ships are full time employees and most will have about ten years experience. That’s a big differentiator. We include everything in the price – not one optional tour is paid for. That includes taxes, shore excursions, gratuities – everything except air fair.
What differentiates you from other lines?
There are two aspects to that: one is the ship and the experience onboard, while the other is the experience on the tours and how they connect. The ships are all custom built for us, simply because there wasn’t anything suitable in the market when we entered the space. We have the highest crew to guest ratio, around 118-passengers, which is 59-cabins. We have more suites than any other operator – a whole floor dedicated to them.
You’re also famous for your tour excursions…
We started off as a tour company so it’s where our business was founded. We have private relationships with royalty for instance, who will open up their stately homes purely for Tauck clients. So you could have dinner in Austria within a palace. Some people might go on a cruise, come home and say they’ve spent a lot on tour excursions – we want our guests to come back and say you would not believe what I’ve seen.
What’s your relationship like with agents?
They’re fantastic. We’re a very well kept secret. We’ve been here close to 20 or 30 years and quality agents know about us but associate us with tour. Agents and customers hear about us through word of mouth. People are using digital to talk about us too. Partners in the UK market are utilising those tools and talking about us more and more.
What are your agent rates?
We’re very competitive. Agents can make a lot of money on our cruises because we’re a luxury, all-inclusive product. We do sell cruise only packages, however, when we would highly recommend the all-inclusive package to get the full Tauck experience. And when we say all-inclusive, we mean it. Pre- and post-night stays, all gratuities, shore excursions – you will not need to touch your wallet when you’re there unless you want to shop in the gift shop or have a cordial after dinner. The discerning agents are breaking down those rates and discovering that the all-inclusive package gives that better experience.
If you could put one message across to an agent what would it be?
Do what’s right for your client. If you are offering a customer a discount of £200, £500 or even £1,000 we would venture to say don’t, because you want to retain that customer based on the value of the product and not the price. Tauck has a very straight forward policy regarding pricing: we don’t change our price. They are priced in US dollars and they’re the same price around the world and we don’t go on sale. We shouldn’t have to apologise for our pricing because the value is there. It’s not a game we want to play. You are not allowed to sell Tauck for less than the price online.
What is the typical Tauck customer?
A typical Tauck customer would be someone who is in their 50s, part of the active boomer generation. They live a discerning lifestyle, they enjoy fine wines and dine out regularly and are definitely college educated, most likely post-graduate educated, they’ve been in business and have travelled in many different ways. They would normally take a Crystal, Regent or Silversea cruise. They are people who are interested in learning things, not going on guided tours. We have a 53% repeat booking rate.
Who are your competitors within the river space?
There are a lot of comparisons with customers like AMA and Avalon. I’d like to think we didn’t have any competitors but we’re certainly up there with the five star lines.
What new developments do you have at Tauck?
One of the most exciting things we’re doing right now is themed river cruising. We now do art and architecture in France, food and wine based experiences and music. For the last one, as an example, we would offer opera tickets for major European houses, highly regarded professionals on board who you can play with. Again, the magical experiences that you can get nowhere else. We are also the only line who can accommodate children comfortably in our suites – so we’re bringing in family themed cruises too.
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