News Release
Bill La Macchia Announces VAX VacationAccess® Worldwide
and Names Bob LaCroix its President & CEO
MILWAUKEE, WI – April 9, 2008 – Bill La Macchia, well known and highly regarded travel industry leader, announced that he has named Bob LaCroix President and CEO of VAX VacationAccess® Worldwide. “From the beginning, VAX VacationAccess® has staked its success on the success of travel professionals. That commitment is stronger than ever,†said La Macchia.
“John Ische and the rest of Trisept Solutions were industry pioneers when they launched this
first-to-market platform and have kept it fresh and growing,†stated La Macchia. “Bob LaCroix and
the new VAX VacationAccess® Worldwide team will build on their impressive record.â€
“VAX VacationAccess® has enormous untapped potential,†said Ische. “The new VAX VacationAccess® Worldwide company will focus exclusively on tapping that potential.â€
According to a 2008 study conducted by PhoCusWright, 64% of travel professionals reported that they use VAX VacationAccess® to sell leisure travel. “We know that travel professionals prefer to use
VAX VacationAccess® because everything we offer is developed with their involvement every step of the way,†said LaCroix. “We believe that travel professionals are a significant force in the leisure travel marketplace. We have always been, and will continue to be, passionate about innovating on their behalf and helping power their success.â€
For nearly two years, LaCroix has served as Senior Vice President Business Planning and Development at Trisept Solutions where his responsibilities included managing VAX VacationAccess®. Prior to joining Trisept Solutions, LaCroix was Senior Vice President Resort Promotions at Orange Lake Resort and Country Club in Orlando. He also spent nearly seven years at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts where he served as Director Distribution Planning and Domestic Wholesale Sales. Prior to joining Disney, LaCroix spent nearly 20 years at Amtrak where he served in a wide range of financial, strategic, and revenue-generating roles, including Executive Director Continuous Quality Improvement.
Since its launch in 2000, VAX VacationAccess® has grown from a web version of the GDS “green screen†booking application to a powerful, point-and-click platform used by more than 65,000 travel professionals. VAX VacationAccess® bookings have grown to over 1 million passengers annually.
VAX VacationAccess® Worldwide is the largest leisure travel distribution company that brings together leisure travel professionals and travel suppliers in one marketplace. The VAX VacationAccess® platform hosts a vast selection of industry-leading tour operators and suppliers on one easy-to-use platform. Powerful booking engines for vacation packages, cruise vacations, air-only and air consolidator give travel professionals the flexibility to easily research and sell custom vacations. Rich destination content and hundreds of timesaving reservation management, sales, and marketing tools allow travel professionals to succeed in today’s competitive leisure travel industry. For more information about VAX VacationAccess® Worldwide, go to www.vaxvacationaccess.com.
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