Small groups growing for Tauck

The phrase “less is more”has become a truism of sorts, and it’s certainly proving to be accurate for Tauck and the small group departures it offers on selected itineraries. Over the past several years, these special departures with an average of 20-24 guests (vs. 38-40 on regular departures of the same Tauck journeys) have been enjoying “incredible growth”while earning high marks from Tauck customers. “Over the past three years we’ve dramatically boosted the number of small group departures we’ve offered, and our guests have responded,”said Tauck CEO Dan Mahar. “On average, in each of the past three years we’ve seen our small group bookings increase by more than 40% over the prior year. Our small groups bookings are growing faster than any destination or region, or any other segment of our business.”Tauck has been increasing its small group business by adding additional dates to itineraries where it had already featured the small groups option, and by expanding the number of different trips on which small group departures are offered. For 2012, the company will operate more than 230 small group departures spread among 46 different Tauck itineraries worldwide. Not only are small groups departures enjoying particularly rapid growth, their bookings are also trending slightly ahead of Tauck’s regular itineraries. And, according to officials, the small group trips are helping bring new customers into the Tauck fold, as they average a higher percentage of first-time Tauck guests than the company’s standard departures. (http://www.tauck.com)