Vacation Express is a

tour operator A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holidays and ...

based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The company was founded in 1989. Vacation Express was purchased by

Sunwing Travel Group Sunwing Travel Group is a privately-owned travel company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The group operates an airline, three tour operators, a retail chain, a vacation club and destination management company. History Sunwing Travel Group ...

in 2011 for an undisclosed sum. The company has sold over two million vacation packages.

History

Vacation Express was founded in 1989 by Kevin Hernandez, Gantt Cookson and Meg Deeb. The company's initial offering was air/land vacation packages to Jamaica. 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. 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. 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. After ten years in business, the company had grown to sell travel packages to 100,000 customers annually by 1999. In 2003, Vacation Express was purchased by Flightserv Inc., a travel services division of Capital Group, along with another tour operator for $16.5 million. In 2011, Sunwing Travel Group purchased Vacation Express for an undisclosed sum. As a result of the sale

Sunwing Airlines Sunwing Airlines Inc. is a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Sunwing Airlines offers scheduled and charter services from Canada and the United States to destinations within the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, ...

, a subsidiary of Sunwing Travel Group, sells fares through Vacation Express. The company also sells charters flights through many airlines including

Aeroméxico Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V. () operating as Aeroméxico (; stylized as AM), is the flag carrier airline of Mexico, based in Mexico City. It operates scheduled services to more than 90 destinations in Mexico; North, South and Central Ameri ...

Interjet Interjet (official legal name ABC Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V.), also known as Interjet Airlines, was a Mexican low-cost carrier headquartered in Mexico City. The airline operated scheduled flights to and from various destinations within Mexico, as ...

, and

IAero Airways iAero Airways, previously Swift Air, is an American airline based in Miami, Florida, United States. It operates charter flights for nationally known fractional aircraft operators, financial institutions, construction, transportation, many colle ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Travel and holiday companies of the United States Transport companies established in 1989 2011 mergers and acquisitions American subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Atlanta 1989 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)