- Conquest Vacations
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Conquest Vacations was a Canadian tour operator that pioneered cheap travel options for Canadians from 1972 to 2009. Conquest was an independent operator, not linked to any major corporation or airline.
Contents
History
Founded in 1972 in Toronto, Conquest had been a leading travel retailer in Canada. In 1976 Conquest offered train tours to the Olympic Games in Montreal. In the later years Conquest moved their business to an internet focus as the travel business moved from travel agencies to internet bookings.
The company was founded before in the internet age and failed due to tough economic times and increase competition from internet travel sites.[citation needed]
On April 15, 2009, Conquest abruptly ceased operations and requested travellers to contact credit card companies for refunds[1]. The company was still advertising for Spring related travel on their web site (See [1]).
Departure Hubs
Hub for most airline flights booked by Conquest were from 3 key Canadian airports:
Operations
- North York, Ontario (Toronto) (85 Brisbane Road) - Headquarters
- Richmond, BC (YVR) - Western Canada operations
Destinations
Destinations Conquest Vacations covered during its operational period:
- Arizona:-
- Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona, Tucson
- California:-
- Anaheim, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica
- Caribbean:-
- Aruba, Bahamas, Montego Bay, Punta Cana, San Juan, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Holguin, Cayo Coco, Varadero, Havana
- Florida:-
- Clearwater Beach, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Key Largo, Key West, Melbourne, Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa, West Palm Beach
- Hawaii:-
- Honolulu, Kauai, Maui
- Mexico:-
- Acapulco, Los Cabos, Cancun, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta
- Nevada:-
- Las Vegas
Partners
- Air Canada
- Air Transat
- Canjet
- Skyservice
- Park 'N Fly
Rivals
In the early years Conquest's main rivals were large and small travel agencies in Canada. After the 1990s, Conquest's rivals were large American based operations:
- Travelocity - American based operator (owned by Sabre Holdings) with Canadian website
- Expedia - American based operator with Canadian website and call centre in Ottawa
- Air Canada Vacations - owned by Air Canada
- Sunquest Vacations - Toronto based travel operator
References
External links
Categories:- Defunct companies of Canada
- Online retail companies of Canada
- Travel and holiday companies of Canada
- Companies based in Toronto
- Companies disestablished in 2009
- Companies established in 1972
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