For Immediate Release
Contact: Holly Botsford
Public Relations Manager
414-934-1286
hbotsford@marktravel.com

The Mark Travel Corporation Brings Mexico Governor and Industry Leaders Together to Expand Baja California Sur Tourism

MILWAUKEE, August 1, 2006 – The Mark Travel Corporation recently hosted an official delegation from Mexico, led by the Governor of Baja California Sur, Mexico, and representatives from leading tourism suppliers including United Airlines, Karisma Resorts, Iberostar Resorts, Occidental Resorts and Barcelo Hotels & Resorts.

Baja California Sur is the state that contains Los Cabos, which is the fastest growing Mexican destination by percentage increase for customers of The Mark Travel Corporation. The area also includes the "up and coming" destination, Loreto, which also promises to be a tourism hot spot - particularly for West Coast originating travelers.

In August and November 2005, Governors and official tourism delegations from Quintana Roo (which includes Cancun, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya) and Nayarit (which includes Vallarta) also came on first-ever visits to Wisconsin. All three dignitaries came specifically to meet with Bill La Macchia and the La Macchia Enterprises companies of Mark Travel, Trisept Solutions, Funjet Vacations, United Vacations and Mark International.

"We are honored again by an official visit of this importance from Mexico - the third official delegation to visit from our leading tourism destination" said Bill La Macchia, chairman of La Macchia Enterprises and The Mark Travel Corporation - which is the leading U.S. vacation packager to Mexico. "It is our intent to find ways to further expand our relationship with this important tourism destination, which includes Los Cabos, and also find ways to further grow our west coast vacation travel to the region."

The visiting dignitaries toured the headquarters of The Mark Travel Corporation, Funjet Vacations, United Vacations, Trisept Solutions and Mark International in Milwaukee, then continued with lunch and preferred supplier meetings at the Wisconsin Club. They also participated in demonstrations of VAX VacationAccess, the online travel technology developed by Trisept Solutions and used by nearly 60,000 travel agents. The afternoon was filled with overview presentations and one-on-one meeting opportunities with suppliers and the government visitors to talk about their plans to expand tourism to Los Cabos and possibly Loreto. The day concluded with a special tour of the archives at Harley Davidson - another internationally known company headquartered in Milwaukee. Mark Travel and Trisept Solutions together provide the online branded vacations for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts.

"We have identified Los Cabos as a rising star in our Mexico product offerings," said Ray Snisky, president of Funjet Vacations. "This visit provided us with an opportunity to leverage our leadership position as the largest U.S. vacation packager to Mexico by bringing in many of the leading hotel companies to this important meeting and helping them find ways to also grow and expand with us in Baja California Sur. This collaboration of destination leaders will result in creating greater opportunities for our company and our travelers."

Funjet Vacations offers flights to Los Cabos currently from San Francisco, Denver and Chicago via United Airlines and Dallas/Fort Worth and St. Louis via charter flights.

"We were pleased to meet with some of the top producers for our area, specifically Los Cabos," said Narciso Agundez, Governor of Baja California Sur, who has aggressive plans to expand tourism there. "The coming together of such high-quality suppliers gives us confidence that we can achieve our tourism development goals."

"Los Cabos is a key destination in our expansion in Mexico," said Robert McDowell of United Airlines. "We have teamed together with Mark Travel to offer flights from specific cities and have been pleased with the results."

"We have found that meetings such as these help develop tourism in the destination in a much broader range," said Rafael Feliz German, president and CEO of Karisma Hotels & Resorts. "Anytime there is a big muscle such as Mark Travel behind an initiative, it is very positive for the hoteliers in the destination."

This was the first time the Baja California Sur governor has ever come to Wisconsin on a tourism mission.

In honor of the visit, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl sent an official welcome letter to Governor Narciso Agundez, which presented at the luncheon. The Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, also made an official proclamation naming June 20, 2006, "Baja Sur Tourism Growth Recognition Day."

Mark Travel is leading producer of packaged vacation travel to Mexico, and was awarded the Keys to the City of Cancun in 2003 - the first tour operator in history to receive this honor. In 2004, Mark Travel was also the first company to be awarded the Excellence award from the Mexican government. In 1997, Mark Travel also received the Tour Operator Award of Excellence from Mexico.

Mark Travel began offering Mexico vacations in 1979 under Funway Holidays International. Funjet Vacations, the flagship brand of Mark Travel, began charters to Mexico in 1987. Today, the following Mark Travel vacation companies offer vacations to Mexico: ATA Vacations, TransGlobal Vacations, Funjet Vacations, United Vacations, and Vacations by Adventure Tours. These vacation companies, with Funjet Vacations carrying the majority of passengers, bring nearly one million passengers a year to Mexico.

In addition to the scheduled air programs, airline seat blocks and land-only accommodations, Mark Travel's vacation companies operate more than 3,000 charter flights into Mexico annually.