US based upmarket tour and cruise operator, Tauck, is beefing up its Australian presence, confirming the recent appointment of a Country Manager and two senior executives to its local arm.
Heading the team will be David Clark, a 16-year industry veteran in Australia who has held senior management roles with The Walt Disney Company, Carnival and Helloworld Limited. Most recently, Clark was the Chief Revenue Officer at Journey Beyond.
In his new role, Clark will be charged with overseeing all of Tauck’s sales, marketing, market planning and other business functions for the Australian market.
Tauck has also appointed two new National Account Managers: Helen Eves and Sarah-Louise Scales.
Eves will increase Tauck’s presence and support its travel advisors in NSW, ACT and WA. Besides serving previously as a sales manager at Travel the World (where she represented Tauck and Travel the World’s other brands), Eves has more recently been a business development manager for Holland America and Seabourn.
Alongside Eves, Scales is the new National Account Manager for Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory. Scales is a former business development manager at Intrepid Group and also worked for seven years as a retail travel advisor and store manager with Flight Centre Travel Group.
“We’re thrilled to have David, Helen and Sarah-Louise leading the charge for Tauck in Australia” said Steve Spivak, Tauck’s Vice President for Global Sales and Partner Relations. “Their combined experience and expertise – on both the retail and supplier sides, and with some of the leading names in the travel industry – will be invaluable as we take our service and support in the Australian market to the next level.”
Spivak said the new staff “will collaborate closely with the stellar sales, marketing, reservations and finance teams at Travel The World, Tauck’s valued GSA partner for more than 30 years.”
Tauck’s expanded call centre operations will begin on 6 April with reservations agents located in Australia and at Tauck’s US Headquarters. The enhanced call centre support and new hires are just the latest efforts in Australia for Tauck, which has been increasing its focus on the Australian market.
Spivak noted that in recent years the company has begun pricing its tours and cruises in Australian dollars, printing dedicated brochures for the Australian market, and publishing an Australian version of its website, tauck.com.au.
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