Vacation Express
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tour operator |
| Founded | 1989 in Atlanta, Georgia |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , |
Key people |
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| Parent | Sunwing Travel Group |
| Website | www |
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 two million vacation packages.[3]
History
[edit]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
[edit]- ^ "Company Overview of VE Holdings, Inc". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ a b c Baran, Michelle (December 14, 2011). "Sunwing Acquires Vacation Express". Travel Weekly.
- ^ Cogswell, David (September 6, 2015). "Meet Vacation Express At The Agent@Home Travel Summit in Atlantic City". TravelPulse.
- ^ a b Del Rosso, Laura (October 2, 1998). "Airtours' Unit Acquires Southeast Operator". Travel Weekly.
- ^ "About Vacation Express". Vacation Express. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ a b Tenny, Lori (October 14, 1999). "Vacation Express' Decade of Growth". Travel Weekly.
- ^ Creduer, Mary Jane (June 21, 2004). "Flightserv Gains Altitude". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Cogswell, David (October 31, 2003). "MyTravel Group Sells 3 U.S. Firms". Travel Weekly.
- ^ Williams, Dave (May 25, 2012). "Hartsfield-Jackson Welcomes Sunwing Airlines". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Rector, Kevin (May 26, 2015). "Vacation Express Returns to BWI With More Seasonal Flights to Caribbean". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Williams, Jason (June 10, 2014). "Vacation Flights Booming at High-Fare Cincinnati Airport". USA Today. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Cogswell, David (September 23, 2013). "Vacation Express to Start Charters from Charlotte to Cancun and Punta Cana". TravelPulse.
- ^ Wartenberg, Steve (December 18, 2014). "Vacation Express to Resume Port Columbus Flights". Columbus Dispatch.