There are very few tour operators that can boast about being in business nearly 50 years. Sunny Land Tours apparently discovered how to succeed in the industry and has been doing it well ever since 1964. Sunny Land Tours’ founder, Elie Sidawi began his lifelong travel career in 1958 working for one of the largest tour operators in the world located in Lebanon. Once bitten by the travel bug, he moved to the U.S. and founded Sunny Land and grew to be one of the largest specialists to Egypt, Greece and the Middle East.
In the By mid-1980s company expanded its product line to Central and South America, and as a result of this move Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru and Galapagos have become among Sunny Land’s most important destinations.
Today, Sunny Land has offices in Florida (headquarters) and in Costa Rica with nearly 70% of their business now dedicated to Latin America. A member of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), Sunny Land specializes in pre-packaged and custom packages to the following destinations:
- Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama
- South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador & Galapagos Islands, Peru
- Europe: Croatia
- Mediterranean: Greece, Turkey, Cyprus
- Middle East & Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Israel, Kenya
While Latin America is positioned to be an emerging destination in the coming years, particularly South America, Sunny Land has never neglected their roots and is still considered a preeminent supplier to the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Africa.
TRO had the opportunity to discuss Sunny Land with both Elie Sidawi, Founder, CEO, and Chairman and Kyle Ekinci, General Manager. We found it hard to compare Sunny Land to other tour operators and Kyle agreed, “In many ways there are no direct competitors to Sunny Land Tours in terms of the actual marketplace we are in. We are the little giant of tour operators when it comes to travel to ancient and exotic destinations. We feature over 15 destinations in 4 continents, yet we are an authority in each and every one of our destinations. This is supplemented by our ability to deliver travel experiences and recommendations from an insider’s standpoint. Furthermore, we are able to provide a very personal service to the travel agents and their clients; and all of the above make these qualities unique to Sunny Land Tours.”
Without a doubt, we are in trying economic times and Mr. Sidawi highlighted Sunny Land’s longevity and stability as a critical factor that sets them apart, “Our experience, longevity, and financial stability as a company, our sensitivity towards and leadership in sustainable tourism practices, our on-the-spot overseas offices and local representation in key destinations all set us apart. Furthermore our active USTOA membership and our $1 Million consumer protection bond provide the safety an agent needs to place a booking from a financial point of view. Sunny Land Tours is one of the older companies that always offer something new!”
Sunny Land is accessible and has invested a lot of resources into their front end (website) and back end (accounting and agency management) systems and they work seamlessly. To book Sunny Land or to have any questions answered by their staff of experts, you can go to their website at www.sunnylandtours.com or call them at 800-783-7839.
