Sunwing Travel Group is a privately-owned travel company headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The group operates an airline, three

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 ...

s, a retail chain, a vacation club and destination management company.

History

Sunwing Travel Group was founded in 2002 by Colin Hunter. By 2004, Sunwing had become the second largest tour operator in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. On November 17, 2005, Sunwing Airlines' inaugural flight, a

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

, departed from

Toronto Pearson Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...

airport. In 2009, Sunwing Travel Group announced that it was acquiring the tour operator Signature Vacations and its SellOffVacations.com retail division from the UK-based

TUI Travel Tui or TUI may refer to: Places * Tui, Pontevedra, Spain * Tui, Iran, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Tui, North Khorasan, North Khorasan Province, Iran * Tui Province, Burkina Faso * Tuis District, Costa Rica * Tui railway station, New Zea ...

. As part of the acquisition TUI gained 49 percent ownership of Sunwing Travel Group and Stephen Hunter replaced his father as CEO of the company. Sunwing Travel Group acquired Caribbean NexusTours, a tour operator in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, in 2010. The company was renamed NexusTours and remains a separate company within Sunwing Travel Group. In 2011, Sunwing Travel Group announced that it would enter the European market with a seasonal service from Canada to Europe. On December 9, 2011, Sunwing Travel Group acquired the

Atlanta 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 ...

-based tour operator Vacation Express for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was the group's entrance to the US market. In 2015, Sunwing Travel Group announced that affiliate, Blue Diamond Resorts, would open a 600-room resort in Jamaica. Later that year, the company began construction on $400 million resort in

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

with 500 rooms.

Subsidiaries

Controversies

In June, 2012, an unnamed individual and

Transat A.T. Transat A.T. Inc. is an international, vertically integrated tour operator with nearly 20 business units in 8 countries. The company is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In May 2021, Jean-Marc Eustache, then CEO and one of the principal ...

submitted information to the

Canadian Transportation Agency The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA; french: Office des transports du Canada, OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation (air, rai ...

that was believed to challenge Sunwing's ability to operate an airline on the grounds of foreign ownership. In November 2012, the CTA announced that Sunwing operated within foreign ownership limits. In December 2016 a pilot was removed from the cockpit of a Sunwing flight and charged after it was determined that he was drunk. A police spokesman indicated that it was Sunwing staff that determined the pilot was impaired and implied that his license would be revoked.

References

{{Reflist Privately held companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 2002 Holding companies established in 2002 Transport companies established in 2002 Airline holding companies of Canada Travel and holiday companies of Canada Companies based in Etobicoke 2002 establishments in Ontario