Vacation Express

Vacation Express is a tour operator based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1989. Vacation Express was purchased by Sunwing Travel Group in 2011 for an undisclosed sum.[2] The company has sold over 2 million vacation packages.[3]

Vacation Express
TypePrivate
IndustryTour operator
Founded1989 (1989) in Atlanta, Georgia
Founders
  • Kevin Hernandez
  • Gantt Cookson
  • Meg Deeb
Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
,
United States
Key people
  • Rene Jongmans, president
  • Gantt Cookson, vice president of operations, co-founder
  • Kevin Hernandez, vice president of sales and marketing, co-founder
[1]
ParentSunwing Travel Group
Websitewww.vacationexpress.com

History

Vacation Express was founded in 1989 by Kevin Hernandez, Gantt Cookson and Meg Deeb.[4] The company's initial offering was air/land vacation packages to Jamaica.[5] In 1992, the company began a charter flight from Atlanta to Cancun and eventually became known as a charter operator in the Southeast and Midwest.[2] By 1998, Vacation Express sold packages from nine U.S. cities to Cancun, Cozumel, Aruba and Costa Rica. That year, Vacation Express was purchased for $24 million by the subsidiary of Airtours International Airways, North America Leisure Group.[4] As part of the acquisition the Vacation Express began offering cruises, expanded its services into the Mid-Atlantic region and listed Baltimore as a chartered gateway.[6] After ten years in business, the company had grown to sell travel packages to 100,000 customers annually by 1999.[6] In 2003, Vacation Express was purchased by Flightserv Inc., a travel services division of eResource Capital Group, along with another tour operator for $16.5 million.[7][8]

In 2011, Sunwing Travel Group purchased Vacation Express for an undisclosed sum.[2] As a result of the sale Sunwing Airlines, a subsidiary of Sunwing Travel Group, sells fares through Vacation Express.[9][10] The company also sells charters flights through many airlines including Aeroméxico, Interjet, and IAero Airways.[11][12][13]

References
  1. "Company Overview of VE Holdings, Inc". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. Baran, Michelle (December 14, 2011). "Sunwing Acquires Vacation Express". Travel Weekly.
  3. Cogswell, David (September 6, 2015). "Meet Vacation Express At The Agent@Home Travel Summit in Atlantic City". TravelPulse.
  4. Del Rosso, Laura (October 2, 1998). "Airtours' Unit Acquires Southeast Operator". Travel Weekly.
  5. "About Vacation Express". Vacation Express. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  6. Tenny, Lori (October 14, 1999). "Vacation Express' Decade of Growth". Travel Weekly.
  7. Creduer, Mary Jane (June 21, 2004). "Flightserv Gains Altitude". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  8. Cogswell, David (October 31, 2003). "MyTravel Group Sells 3 U.S. Firms". Travel Weekly.
  9. Williams, Dave (May 25, 2012). "Hartsfield-Jackson Welcomes Sunwing Airlines". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  10. Rector, Kevin (May 26, 2015). "Vacation Express Returns to BWI With More Seasonal Flights to Caribbean". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  11. Williams, Jason (June 10, 2014). "Vacation Flights Booming at High-Fare Cincinnati Airport". USA Today. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  12. Cogswell, David (September 23, 2013). "Vacation Express to Start Charters from Charlotte to Cancun and Punta Cana". TravelPulse.
  13. Wartenberg, Steve (December 18, 2014). "Vacation Express to Resume Port Columbus Flights". Columbus Dispatch.
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