Demand High for Vacation Express’ New Sunwing Program | Travel Research Online

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Demand High for Vacation Express’ New Sunwing Program

Vacation Express, one of the largest tour operators in the southeast United States, announced at the beginning of 2012 it had been wholly acquired by Sunwing Travel Group Inc., a family-owned and operated, Toronto-based company and Canada’s leading vertically integrated leisure travel company. Within a month of the company’s new ownership announcement, Vacation Express got their Sunwing Airlines program up and running and open for sale, and it’s been a booking frenzy ever since.

The new seasonal program offers non-stop ‘Elite Service’ champagne flights from Atlanta, Cincinnati and Nashville to three of the company’s most popular destinations, Cancun, Jamaica and Punta Cana. The seasonal service will operate between May 25, 2012 and October 29, 2012. Due to unprecedented demand in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region, the DOT has approved the extension of the Cincinnati (CVG) service through October 2013.

Customers will enjoy award-winning in-flight Sunwing Elite Service which includes a “Bon Voyage” glass of champagne, hot towel service, a choice of hot meals or hot snack, in-flight movies, wine with meals, kids backpacks with games and toys, comfortable leather seating throughout the aircraft and checked baggage (up to 44 lbs. per person) at no extra charge. Clients may opt to upgrade to Elite Plus Service for only $40 each way and receive an extra leg room seat, advance seat selection, additional 22 lb. checked baggage allowance and priority check-in and boarding. “It is really nice to see an airline adding more services rather than taking them away” commented Rene Jongmans, President of Vacation Express. In addition to the extremely affordable air/hotel packages, Vacation Express offers low-cost air only options as well.

The company offers a wide range of hotel options, but is primarily focused on the all-inclusive vacation experience. And just recently, they introduced their new “SMILE” program which includes a selection of family-friendly all-inclusive resorts that not only offer extremely budget-friendly rates but also many exclusive year-round family travel bonuses you won’t find anywhere else including kids 2-12 stay free year-round; preferential pricing for teens 13-17 year-round; and a single supplement waiver for single parents traveling with their children. “With the outstanding special hotel deals we’ve negotiated to complement our new Sunwing program, coupled with an extraordinary in-flight experience and a low $50 per person deposit, bookings for the summer and into the fall have exceeded our expectations”, stated Rene Jongmans, President of Vacation Express. “This is a strong indicator that not only affordability but good value for the vacation dollar is still very much a priority with consumers.”

Vacation Express’ product staff has developed profound professional relationships with some of the industry’s most sought-after hotels and resorts in the most frequently requested destinations. This, in conjunction with Sunwing Travel Group’s long-time experience as Canada’s leading leisure travel company, translate into excellent service for your clients as well as the most competitive rates available. Each of their experienced product buyers, including the executives of the company, insists on personal examination and assessment of the hotels they sell. These long-term relationships, nurtured over more than two decades, provide a standardized method of determining which choices are best suited to your client’s personal vacation requirements.

“We are thrilled to be working with Sunwing Airlines and are beyond pleased with the enthusiastic reception our new program has received from our loyal travel agent partners,” commented Mr. Jongmans. “We are committed to providing the best product, the best service and the best prices to the travel agents and their clients – and we have rededicated ourselves to providing the best benefits as well.” The company has recently launched a number of new (or enhanced) agent incentive programs. For the month of May, they are running a new travel agent Sunwing promotion …’Book Three, Fly Free!’ Agents simply make 3 Sunwing bookings and deposit in May to earn a free ticket for themselves for travel in 2012. In addition, agents earn 15% commission on the land portion of all Sunwing Airlines package bookings during the month of May. The company’s popular “Wild Wednesdays” program has been enhanced to offer generous cash rewards to the top five ‘early-bird’ agents who book the featured, aggressively-priced hotel of the week. This is an email exclusive promotion, so agents must sign up to receive the weekly emails with associated promotion code to participate. Agents should check out the company’s other travel agent incentive programs including the ever-popular FREEBIES and the easy money EXPRESS CASH.

To learn more about Vacation Express or to contact one of their team members, visit www.vacationexpress.com or call 1-(800)-486-9777.

  One thought on “Demand High for Vacation Express’ New Sunwing Program

  1. “The seasonal service will operate between May 25, 2012 and October 29, 2012.”

    Sunwing should update info before giving it to you for publication. They’ve pulled the Sunwing flights from Nashville effective the end of July. To say TAs are unhappy with this turn of events is an understatement.

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