Along with a number of airline and bus operator bankruptcies, many companies selling holiday packages and tours are also having a difficult end to 2025.
British tour operators Great Little Escapes and Jetline both shut down operations within a few weeks of each summer last summer while Hampshire-based competitor New Era Travel followed with liquidation proceedings in November.
Before that, Reykjavik-based Tango Travel was left severely incapacitated by the earlier bankruptcy of Play Airlines that it used to book flights for the majority of its tour packages and also shut down operations. The shutdown of Swedish tour company MixxTravel earlier in the year also left more than 1,300 travelers stranded at different popular vacation destinations across Europe.
Launched in 1925 by Jewish-German entrepreneur Arthur Tauck, what eventually evolved into the guided tour, cruise and safari giant Tauck recently announced that while the company itself is doing well it will be gradually phasing out its sales and reservations operations in Australia throughout 2026.
This means that any bookings made by Australian or Kiwi travelers will be processed by its global base in Connecticut rather than the office launched to serve its large customer base in that part of the world in 2017.
The tour operator specializes in both organized land tours in countries on all seven continents including Antarctica as well as various ocean and river cruises, family and small-group trips and safaris.
Related: Tour company files for bankruptcy and cancels trips, travelers stranded
Any of the jobs not moved to the main office will be phased down in stages throughout 2026 — any employees on the sales team will be let go by March 31 while reservations team workers will be kept until December 15, 2026. The tour operator had previously published press releases showing that it has over 700 global employees but, as a private company, has not said how many Australian employees would be affected by the job cuts.
Tauck Vice President of Global Sales Steve Spivak called the shutdown “a fundamental step to optimize our resources and strategic growth from a business perspective” while also thanking the “unparallelled passion of our Australian team which has been led by David Clark.”
The company said that all of Tauck’s present and future itineraries remain unaffected and will go on according to the schedule posted on its website. Past the shutdown, Australian customers and travel agents will need to go through the main office or book online.
The tours to Australia, New Zealand and other countries in Oceania will also be unaffected on the traveler end beyond needing to be booked through the main office rather than the Australian one.
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“The company will also work closely with its travel agency partners to ensure a seamless transition and maintain the strong relationships that have been cultivated over many years,” Spivak said further. “[..] Our existing itinerary offerings will proceed as planned, as we continue to welcome Australian travelers across our full portfolio of journeys on all seven continents.”
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