NTA mourns passing of Arthur Tauck Jr.

February 16, 2026

Arthur Tauck Jr., left, receiving the 2008 NTA Pioneer Award with Kirk Lanterman of Holland America.

The NTA community is saddened by the death of Arthur Tauck Jr., who died Feb. 11 at the age of 94.

The son of a founding member of the association, Mr. Tauck served as the chief elected leader of NTA in 1967 and 1968, when the organization was called the National Tour Brokers Association.

“Mr. Tauck was an icon in our industry and a pillar of our association,” said NTA President Catherine Prather. “His leadership, innovation, and adventurous spirit served as an inspiration to everyone he met.”

In 1958 Mr. Tauck took the reins of his father’s small tour business, which offered six itineraries on the U.S. East Coast, and turned it into one of the world’s leading companies.

Jim Host, who served as executive director of NTA from 1974 to 1999, worked closely with Mr. Tauck. “He built the best tour operator company in the world and remained a treasured friend of mine and NTA,” Host said. “What a giant of a person.”

In 2008 Mr. Tauck received the NTA Pioneer Award, which honors individuals who have made significant changes in the travel industry to the benefit of tour operators. In naming him the recipient of the award, NTA cited many of Mr. Tauck’s accomplishments, which include the following:

Mr. Tauck introduced the first tour packages that included chartered air and motorcoach travel, linking travelers to national parks in the American West at a time when the rest of the travel industry was still relying entirely on rail.
He invented Heli-Hiking, which opened pristine alpine environments in the Canadian Rockies to travelers of all ages by combining chartered helicopters with stays at luxury mountain lodges.
Mr. Tauck also launched the “Yellow Roads of Europe” series, named for the less-traveled scenic routes marked in yellow on European road maps.

In addition to his NTA record of leadership, Mr. Tauck also served as chairman of Tourism Cares, which was formed by the charitable arms of NTA and the United States Tour Operators Association, and he also led charitable initiatives through the Tauck Family Foundation.

“NTA is celebrating the association’s 75th anniversary this year, and Mr. Tauck’s leadership during the early decades helped NTA chart a course of innovation and collaboration,” Prather said. “He’ll forever be a part of NTA’s legacy.”

Contributions in Mr. Tauck’s memory can be made to Tourism Cares (tourismcares.org/make-a-donation).