LOTSA VACATIONS

Five Brands in One: WestJet Announces Sunwing Vacations Group

A new vacation company is promising to provide Canadians with more affordable sun vacations than ever before.

Leaders of the five brands in the newly created Sunwing Vacations Group at a recent launch event. Photo courtesy Sunwing Vacations Group.

WestJet has announced that five powerhouse vacation and retail travel brands have been brought together under the newly created Sunwing Vacations Group, the vacation division of the WestJet Group. The Calgary-based airline says the move will unlock more value for Canadian consumers.

The creation of Sunwing Vacations Group comes on the heels of the WestJet Group’s acquisition of Sunwing, which was completed in MAY 2023, and encompasses the leading Canadian leisure tour operators Sunwing Vacations and WestJet Vacations, the growing United States tour operator Vacation Express, together with the Group’s own travel retail businesses SellOffVacations.com and Luxe Destination Weddings. Together they form the largest vacation brands in North America.

That being said, each division within Sunwing Vacations Group will continue to be marketed as a unique, standalone brand.

The new vacation division was recently unveiled to leaders within Sunwing Vacations Group. The event brought leaders and people managers across the brands together for the first time to celebrate and learn more about the brand relaunch and hear about the joint vision for the future

“Our longstanding success at Sunwing has been centred on providing innovative vacation packages to Canadians. With the establishment of Sunwing Vacations Group, we are furthering our commitment and providing Canadians with even greater value and choice on sun travel,” said Andrew Dawson, President of Tour Operations for Sunwing Vacations Group. “We are very excited to bring all of these brands together under Sunwing Vacations Group, and unite in our collective purpose of passionate people making vacation dreams come true.”

“Sunwing Vacations Group, as a division of the WestJet Group, simplifies the complementary nature of WestJet Airlines and Sunwing Vacations,” said Alexis von Hoensbroech, Chief Executive Officer of the WestJet Group. “As the largest packaged vacations provider in Canada, Sunwing Vacations Group will be instrumental in fulfilling the WestJet Group’s strategy to provide affordable, year-round leisure travel for Canadians from coast to coast.”

“We’re thrilled to introduce Sunwing Vacations Group, and overjoyed that we were able to bring 140-plus leaders across all of these brands together to celebrate the launch of our new vacation division,” added Samantha Taylor, Chief Marketing Officer for Sunwing Vacations Group. “Leaders across the business united in person to share brand-specific updates and discuss best practices to help inform the customer experience, and to help propel each of these brands further in pursuit of offering Canadians unparalleled choice wherever they’re at in their vacation journey.”

Sunwing Vacations Group also recently launched a new corporate website, sunwingvacationsgroup.com, which provides more information on the brands that make up the new vacation division, the company’s culture, growth trajectory and North American timeline, the epic employees that drive the business forward, and the employment opportunities currently available across all brands.


Jim Byers

Contributor

Jim Byers is a freelance travel writer based in Toronto. He was formerly travel editor at the Toronto Star and now writes for a variety of publications in Canada and around the world. He's also a regular guest on CBC, CTV News, Global News and other television and radio networks.

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