Management

A strong team of seasoned travel professionals heads up the Sunsation Tours management team.

Michael B. Lavigne, President & CEO

Michael Lavigne has been recognized by Travel Weekly as one of the most influential people in the travel industry. He is a recipient of Travel Agent Magazine’s “Tour Operator of the Year” award, and is a former member of Starwood’s Hotel Leisure Advisory Board.

Lavigne has served as the COO and GM of Glacier Bay Cruiseline, Executive VP of Glacier Bay Cruiseline’s Great American Journeys, managing partner of Altamont Coastal Partners LLC (the parent company of Coastal Hotel Group, a hotel management company that operates upscale boutique hotels), Board member of Coastal Hotel Group, Chairman of Global Leisure, Inc. (the former parent company of Maupintour, a fully escorted tour operator; Jetset North America, an international air consolidator; Sunmakers, a tour operator to multiple sun destinations throughout the world; Hawaii Leisure, an exclusive United Airlines wholesaler; and Regency Pacific Tours, an Asia FIT operator)

William Anderson, Vice President Product Development

William Anderson has been in the travel and hospitality business for over thirty (30) years where he has held a number of positions including manager, corporate executive and owner.

Anderson was Senior VP of Marketing for Glacier Bay Cruiseline, and was the owner of Discover Wholesale Travel, a travel company specializing in Mexico and the South Pacific. Anderson founded Pacific Escapes and grew it into a national wholesaler specializing in Mexico, Hawaii and South Pacific. He sold Pacific Escapes to Costco which became the foundation for Costco Travel. Prior to Pacific Escapes, Anderson was the Senior Vice President for sales and marketing for Sunmakers Travel Group where Anderson was responsible for all sales and marketing functions as well as overseeing product development. Anderson came to Sunmakers when he sold his company, Destinations Pacific, to the Sunmakers Travel Group.

David Palmer, Vice President Marketing and Sales

David Palmer retired from Alaska Airlines in October 2005 after 40 years, the last part of which was spent as Managing Director Marketing. During that time he led start up teams for a variety of marketing programs, including: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Alaska Airlines Vacations, and the Alaska Airlines e-commerce site; each of which he managed at one time or another. He also was in charge of Alaska Airlines advertising and promotions, market research, the Customer Relations Department, and branding. In the incredibly challenging airline industry all of these diverse responsibilities have given him broad experience in the marketing arena.

Palmer has been involved in a variety of industry activities. He has been President of the Alaska Visitors Association, Chair of the Alaska Tourism Marketing Council and Chair of the Seattle King County Visitors Bureau.