Robin Tauck’s first exposure to the thrill and wonder of travel was waving bon voyage to the Tauck tour groups as they departed from the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. It was the early ’60s. The youngster in the crowd, known as “little Robin,” watched every weekend as hundreds of adults with suitcases boarded motor coaches bound for places unknown to her. “There was an exciting grandiosity to the event,” she recalls.
Paving the Road for Travel
In 1925, at only 27 years of age, Robin’s grandfather, Arthur Tauck Sr., created the first Tauck Motor Tour. Inspired by the beauty he saw when stopping for lunch in The Berkshires, the traveling salesman, who loved the outdoors and had become an expert in the area’s backroads, organized an all-inclusive trip for six passengers through rural New England in a 1924 Studebaker.
Since few Americans owned their own vehicles and yet had a desire to explore, Tauck Sr. had an eager market. After a successful first tour, he began mapping itineraries to other locations within driving distance of New York City, such as weekend getaways to the Poconos and Niagara Falls. Eventually, his offerings grew, including tours through Blue Ridge Country and historic Virginia; excursions through the scenic mountain regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee; and ferry trips to Nova Scotia.
In 1935, Tauck Sr. traveled to Washington to explain his business at hearings held by a newly formed regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission. Neither an operator nor a carrier, he was awarded the first tour broker license in the U.S. travel industry. By 1939, his service covered all vacation lands in the East—from the Saint Lawrence River to Florida.
In 1942, due to World War II, Tauck Sr. made the choice to close his business, assuring customers “the sooner we stamp out the Axis, the sooner we’ll be able to stamp your name on a Tauck Tour ticket.” True to his word, the company resumed tours through the eastern regions of North America in 1947.
Growing Global
As modes of travel and the scope of destinations changed, the tour company adapted.
Arthur Tauck Jr.—Robin’s father—joined the family business in 1950. After serving in the U.S. Air Force in Germany (where Robin was born in 1955), he became convinced air travel was the future. In 1958, he took over as president of the company and launched the first air tour to Nova Scotia. He was soon leading air and motor tours to the Hawaiian Islands, the Canadian Rockies, and Europe.
Realizing Easterners in the United States rarely ventured to Western national parks, Tauck Jr. and his team forged partnerships with the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, becoming, says Robin, “the largest tour company to the parks.” Years later, the company spearheaded on-tour volunteer projects in the national parks. In 2006, the program was awarded the Preserve America Presidential Award at the White House by former President George W. Bush.
Robin was raised near the shores of Long Island Sound, where the family spent much of their leisure time sailing. After graduating from the University of Vermont with a business degree, she joined the family business. Two years later, she decided to gain what she calls “outside experience,” moving to California, where she worked at The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and for a charter yacht company in Sausalito. While on the West Coast, she and boyfriend Peter Leth (who eventually became her husband) built a 39-foot Freya sailboat and spent every weekend in the boatyard or on the water.
In 1980 the pair set sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and together navigated more than 9,000 miles, sailing all the way back to the East Coast. About her yearlong sabbatical at sea, Robin says it provided her “an unbelievable education”—one where, focused on safety, she became hyperaware of her surroundings. “I learned how to use a sextant, orient with the stars, and be resilient,” she recalls.
Following this experience, Robin married, became a mother to daughter Colleen in 1986, and immersed herself in work at the family company, where she focused on developing small-ship cruising, African safaris, and travel to Asia, in addition to building the company’s marketing, publishing, and creative departments. In 1997, she and brother Peter became co-presidents; Robin served as CEO from 2004 to 2007.
The family has long embraced what Robin terms “responsibility for the greater good.” The Tauck Family Foundation has provided grants to nonprofit organizations since 1994. In 1998, the company launched World of Giving and helped start the Travelers Conservation Fund, which expanded to Tourism Cares—one of the largest nonprofits in the U.S. travel industry—where Robin served as board director and chairwoman for 12 years. During the Obama administration, Robin was invited to join the U.S. Department of State’s World Heritage Commission.
For the past 25 years, Robin has been a leading advocate of sustainable tourism, attending summits and leadership courses. While all these initiatives were going on, the company continued exploring new lands. By 2001, their offerings had grown to cover all seven continents.
New Century, New Frontiers
Fewer than 1 percent of family businesses make it to 100 years (buildingindiana.com), and only 3 percent operate at the fourth-generation level (familybusinesscenter.com).
“We have much to be grateful for,” says Robin. Starting this month, Tauck will commence a yearlong centennial celebration. More than 750 employees along with select hospitality, hotel, and cruise partners will join the Tauck family for six days in Florence, Italy. “Our current CEO, Dan Mahar, wanted to honor this significant city, the birthplace of the Renaissance,” explains Robin. “Beautifully preserved, it is a fitting location to celebrate human ingenuity and creativity.” During the visit, the company—which committed to 100 grants and volunteer efforts in its 100th year of business—will help at preservation events in the city.
During her tenure at Tauck, Robin witnessed the increasing mobility of mankind. Following the worldwide pandemic, she shares that “the highest numbers of travel—ever—are now being recorded,” referring to this new era as “a golden one.” Today, the fourth generation of the Tauck family is collectively ushering the company into the future. “Travel transforms lives,” explains Robin. “Eighty percent of developing nations rely on travel for their GDP. Poverty is diminished. Travel brings good to the world.”
Alongside her daughter, Robin launched her own foundation in 2007—the Tauck Ritzau Innovative Philanthropy (TRIP)—with the goal of protecting, elevating, and interpreting both culture and heritage across the globe. “It’s a personal favorite,” she adds.
Florida: A Family Favorite
Almost 100 years ago, Robin’s grandfather advertised Florida as “the greatest year-round resort,” writing “no mere words can do justice to the charm of this sunny land of tropical flowers, stately palms, and sapphire seas.” Over the years, the southernmost state became a popular vacation destination (and also the home state) for many members of the Tauck family.
Robin—the lady who has traveled to more than 100 countries, who has taken 65 Tauck expeditions, who travels about 110 days a year, and who could conceivably live anywhere—purchased a home in Southwest Florida in 2021. It is located just a few streets from the very zip code where more than 1,000 Tauck travelers a year originate.
What attracted her to Naples? “It’s a bustling community surrounded by pristine nature next to great parks, like the Everglades and Big Cypress,” she says. “It’s a very green place with great arts and culture. I feel good when I’m here.”
But this is not to say Robin will visit often. This spring she will take ownership of a residence at the Waldorf Astoria New York—the same place that provided such fond memories as a young girl. And, still filled with wanderlust, she plans to embark on many more journeys. “In the world we know,” says Robin, “there is so much opportunity for discovery.”
Traveling for a Better World
“With life, travel, and mobility, we all make an impact,” says Robin Tauck, who offers some suggestions for traveling purposefully and responsibly below.
1. Count your carbs; know your emissions. With a growing transparency of emissions per traveler, passengers now have a choice to support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) charges, offsetting flight and cruise emissions.
2. Be inspired by meaningful travel. Consider in-depth exploration of a destination; focus on slow or regional travel; make an impact through your activities; and strive for deeper engagement with local communities.
3. Travel off the beaten track or off-season. To help manage over-tourism, venture to lesser-known places or second cities.
4. Select trusted companies. Choose a local travel advisor and peruse your choice of tours, cruises, and adventure operators; select those with sustainability as core principles and values.
5. Eliminate plastics; use recyclables. Bring your reusable items and diminish your refuse.
6. Eat locally sourced foods. Support local restaurants; try indigenous and local specialties.
7. Be an aware guest. Be sensitive and respect other cultures. Engage and talk versus merely observing and photographing. Learn local norms of dressing and behavior.
8. Support animal welfare, biodiversity, and nature preservation. Be aware of impact to local flora and fauna; leave a place better than you found it.
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