PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As Collette celebrates 100 years of operating guided tours, it is ringing in its next century by bringing on a female leader as the company's eventual CEO and by relaunching a category of tours that showcases just how much the business has evolved since 1918.
"To me, travel is changing so much," said Jaclyn Leibl-Cote, Collette's newly named president. Leibl-Cote is the daughter of CEO Dan Sullivan Jr., and after several years she will succeed him, the company announced last week in advance of its centennial celebration, which was held here June 21 and 22.
Collette also took the opportunity to reveal the relaunch of its Explorations product. The brochure will drop on Aug. 7, the company said.
Collette launched Explorations in 2007 as a small-group escorted tour concept, and the brand has since gone through several tweaks and iterations. For the relaunch, Leibl-Cote said, Collette will target a demographic that's younger than it does for its classic Collette tours and will reduce the maximum group size from 24 to 19. The new Explorations will also feature a greater variety of options and more unique and authentic experiences for travelers, including the choice to opt for excursions, such as a city tour via Vespa or bike and more flexible meal choices in more unique venues.
There will be options for more hands-on participation, such as cooking classes, as well as more varied transportation — for example, more train travel. In addition to the Explorations relaunch, Leibl-Cote said that technology is going to help Collette survive and thrive in its second century of operating guided tours throughout the world. For example, the company is looking at ways to make the customization and personalization of its tours quicker and more efficient.
Collette was founded in 1918 by Jack Collette as Collette Tours. The first product was a three-week trek from Boston to Florida at a cost of $68.50 per person. The company was sold to Dan Sullivan Sr. in 1962, and Dan Sullivan Jr. took the helm as president and CEO in 1990. Leibl-Cote is poised to be the third generation of the family to occupy the CEO's office.
She started at Collette in 2005, working in the mailroom. Since then, Leibl-Cote has occupied many roles within the company, including sales, tour management and tour designs. Most recently, she was the executive vice president of product strategy and delivery.
Leibl-Cote said the fact that she will be the company's first female CEO is "really important. We have a lot of women leaders within Collette, and I think it's an opportunity to see that, yes, it is possible."
As for why Collette has chosen to keep the CEO role within the family, Leibl-Cote said she feels it will help to maintain her grandfather's vision and maintain a longer-view strategy for the company, rather than making short-sighted decisions.
What hasn't changed in the past 100 years of Collette's operating guided tours, Leibl-Cote said, is "the people element, the wanting to learn and understand different cultures and experience different cultures. I'm sure that's been reshaped slightly throughout time, but that, I think, is still always at the core of why people travel."