|
| |
|
Company History
|
Collette has been offering quality vacations to travellers for over 90 years. With a reputation for providing first class escorted tours at tremendous value, Collette Vacations has become one of travel's best kept secrets.
Started in 1918, our parent company, Collette Vacations has the earned the distinction of being the oldest tour operator in the United States. Under the leadership of the Sullivan family since 1962, Collette has seen its presence expand from that of a regional motorcoach operator to a global vacation company that travels to all 7 continents, with offices in 3 countries (United States, Canada and the United Kingdom).
Family owned and run we truly value our independence and strive to create tours that are that little bit different.Your tour is an investment of your time and money. That's why, at Collette, we take planning tours seriously. With nearly nine decades in travel we have built relationships around the world that allow us to offer superb tours at great value for your money. We are members of ABTA and the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) and have a fully bonded ATOL License (number 4832) with the CAA, meaning that your investment is always safe with Collette.
We are committed to offering safe, quality tours using unique itineraries that really capture the flavour of the destination. Collette tours include quality, centrally located hotels, most meals, exciting entertainment and included excursions, that are often optional with most other tour operators. Our tours are escorted throughout by our friendly, knowledgeable Collette Tour Managers who are on hand to make sure that you have the best possible vacation. Many tours include with multiple night stays creating a leisurely pace to our itineraries.
How did we get to this point? We encourage you to read Collette's colourful history and see for yourself how we came to offer The Collette Difference!
|
Collette Vacations
Celebrates 90 Years
Click on any
image to enlarge
Jack Collette
Old Cartoon
Washington, D.C.
Cherry Blossom Tour
Easter Holiday Tour
1929 Presidential Inauguration Tour
Washington, D.C.
Bus Tour
A Young Visionary:
Daniel J. Sullivan, Sr.
1968 New York
World's Fair Tour
1968 Tour to Ireland
Bus Trip Specials
A CEO in Training
Broad St. Location
Old Logo
Historical
Collette Brochures
1993 Travel
Agent Magazine
|
| How It All Began
|
More than ninety years ago when the tour industry was in its infancy, Collette Tours, as it was then named, got its start under the entrepreneurial Jack Collette. He began business as Collette Travel Service, Inc., offering transportation ticketing services and regional tours, in the Greyhound Terminal in Boston's Park Square.
Collette's first tour was a 21-day trip to Florida for $61.50 that departed twice a month throughout the winter -- a warm welcome for winter-weary New Englanders who liked the prospect of escaping the snow and cold. Soon Collette was supplementing Florida trips with $50.00 Cherry Blossom specials to Washington, D.C. in April, which also became very popular. More than a dozen buses, filled with the patriotic and curious, would make the trip each season.
In 1927 Collette transferred his operations to the New England Transportation Company Terminal in Providence. His service quickly became a major ticket office for all types of motorcoaches, with New England Transportation Company and Greyhound as his major carriers.
In 1945, a young Dan Sullivan returned from a wartime commission in the Counter Intelligence Division, where he served under General George Patton. Coming from a family with a proud history in transportation -- his father and his uncles were railroad conductors -- it was natural for him to enter this field. While he eagerly followed in the family footsteps, he serendipitously chose highways instead of rails. He joined New England Transportation in their South Station, Boston offices. When the home office was moved to Kingsley Avenue in Providence in 1953, Sullivan ran the passenger operations until the company was purchased by George M. Sage in 1958. He became transportation manager for Sage's Short Line Bus Company, eventually renamed Bonanza Bus Lines, a name that continues today.
In Rhode Island, Jack Collette and Dan Sullivan became business friends. As Sage recalls, "We supplied about half of Collette's transportation needs at that time. It was a small operation then, with Jack, his wife, and their secretary, Doris Brown, running the company while often serving as tour guides." The stage was set for a new direction for Collette's company and a new brand of ownership.
Back to Top
|
| Ownership Changes Hands
|
Jack Collette was comfortable with his existing business, but he was 70 years old. He had no children of his own. Dan Sullivan, on the other hand, had seven children and all the obligations that such a legacy entails. It was hardly the time to leave the security of New England Transportation and branch out on his own. But Dan Sullivan had a vision. "I could see what tour operators and bus companies were doing," he says.
When Collette received an offer to purchase the company from an outsider, Sullivan knew he wanted to own Collette Tours and convinced the older man to sell the company to him instead. "I encouraged him," says former boss George Sage. "Anyone with Dan's moxie who would start something with a young family to support, had to have tremendous foresight," he says.
Dan's sister, Betty Sullivan, has some other recollections. "Well, my parents were pretty conservative, so they thought he was crazy. They couldn't see why he would leave a good job to do this," she says. "But the opportunity was there and he took it."
Back to Top
|
| Motorcoach Travel Takes Off
|
Sullivan and his brother-in-law, Arthur McWilliam, concluded the sale in 1962, and immediately made plans to expand the operation. "He bought it at exactly the right time because it was just before the World's Fair in 1964," says Sage, who now serves on Collette's Board of Advisors. "The New York World's Fair and the Montreal Expo (1967) really got people in a travelling mood. It gave tremendous impetus to the development of tours, like the Pennsylvania Dutch, Nova Scotia, Montreal and Toronto excursions that are still popular today."
Even the stalwart Sage was surprised by the industry's phenomenal growth. "Never in my wildest dreams did I foresee the huge expansion that would occur in the motorcoach industry in the 1970's."
Sullivan's sister, Betty, though, remembers that it wasn't all luck in the early days. "Dan was such a hard worker. When the company was still very, very small, just six full time employees, he would walk to a neighboring shoe store and get old shoeboxes from the owner. We would use these instead of files for the tours -- rooming lists, luggage tags, etc."
"We did a good job," Dan Sr. said, looking back at what would become the Collette signature in escorted tours. "We used good hotels in downtown New York and developed value packages." Working closely with the properties helped keep the prices low and Dan began to build a solid client base.
With New Englanders warming up to this concept of tours and affordable pricing in the late 60's, he turned his attention to other ways to grow the business. Initially skeptical, Furness Bermuda Line and the Holmes Line which sailed to Nassau were soon convinced by Dan to partner with Collette, offering package pricing on cruises that included transportation from the New England regions. This is what really brought the cruise industry to the people of New England and it was only the beginning of numerous innovative travel partnerships that were to catapult the company into its position as an industry leader.
Back to Top
|
| Beyond New England
|
In the 1970's it was time for Collette Tours to bridge an important next step in its development. The second generation of Sullivans joined the efforts in moving Collette to the next stage. Together, Dan Jr. and his brothers and sisters, Gary, Kevin, Jerome, Karen, Susan and Lynne began to create their own vision of what the family business would become.
Gary rose through the ranks to become general manager before entering the hotel business where he now owns and operates a successful hotel in New Hampshire. Jerome began as a tour guide before managing that department; later he worked as a product manager, and on the Internet Development team. Kevin, formerly the director of Collette's information systems, equipped the company with state-of-the-art technology, helping to provide more efficient services to Collette's clients. Karen, Susan and Lynne focused their efforts on the company's charitable contributions, giving back to a community that they felt had given them so much. Together this generation of Sullivans held a vision that would include moving Collette Tours beyond the New England borders.
When Dan Jr. joined the company in the 1970's, he began learning it from the ground up. Beginning first as a tour guide during college, he poured his enthusiasm into taking the company to the next level by creating new product, sales and marketing strategies. Dan's salesmanship, ability to anticipate market trends and motivational skills drove Collette forward. His intuition about product and market directions led Collette to the next of many milestones to come. Though Dan Sr. turned the reins over to Dan Jr. in 1990, naming him president and chief executive officer, he remained as Chairman of the Board, occupying a corner office in the historic Pawtucket, RI mill complex, until his death in February 2005.
Back to Top
|
| International Expansion
|
Additional growth would come from an area not all agreed on -- international travel. Betty Sullivan remembers that some family members looked askance at expanding into Europe, though Dan Sr. understood the immense possibilities. The market was full of the big companies. "Dan was fortunate to have a son of Dan, Jr.'s ability to develop that international business," says George Sage. "He always had a vision of the company growing to the size it is today and he brought in people with the same dynamic ideas," adds Betty. "And as the company has grown, so too has his vision."
Escorted tours to Europe began in the late 1970's. In the 1980's, excursions were added to Australia, China, Africa and Mexico. South America and Antarctica were added in the 1990's. These new destinations added an exotic flavor that attracted younger travellers in their 30's and 40s, with the lure of soft adventure and unparalleled scenic beauty. They always included the unique aspects of an area, as well as history, culture and entertainment. And they always measured up to Dan Sr.'s principles of excellent accommodations and good value.
Back to Top
|
| Collette Today
|
For 90 years, our daily goal has been to deliver the highest quality, best value and exceptional service to our family of travelers, every single time. Family-owned with tours to all seven continents, Collette can make your vacation dreams come true.
Back to Top
|
|
|
