PAWTUCKET – Collette Vacations President and CEO Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and his father, the late Dan Sullivan Sr., have been inducted into the Tourism Cares Hall of Fame, the company announced.
“The Sullivans join an elite group of honorees in the Tourism Cares Hall of Fame,” said Bruce Beckham, the nonprofit’s executive director. “The personal values set forth by Dan Sullivan Sr. have been carried on and amplified by his son.”
The Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who – along with their business accomplishments – have made significant personal contributions to travel and tourism through philanthropic, volunteer and mentoring activities.
Dan Sullivan Sr. had served in the Counter Intelligence Corps during World War II, under Gen. George Patton, before returning home to work for the railroad like his father and grandfather before him. Transferred to Providence when the railroad’s motor coach division was sold to Short Line Bus Co., he rose to become Short Line’s traffic manager before buying Collette Tours from Jack Collette in 1962. He served as president of the company for nearly 30 years before handing over the reins to his son in 1990.
He died Feb. 22, 2006, at 83. His lifelong commitment to philanthropy is epitomized by his founding of the Alice I. Sullivan Foundation, which he named for his wife.
Dan Sullivan Jr., a 30-year veteran of the travel industry, is co-chairman of the Pawtucket Foundation and an active supporter of causes including Tourism Cares, the Boys & Girls Clubs and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He was a finalist for New England Entrepreneur of the Year in both 1997 and 1998.
They are to be honored Aug. 8 during a gala dinner at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. “Both honorees will be recognized for their success in business, as well as their philanthropy both in their local communities and in the hospitality and tourism industry,” Beckham said.
To learn more about Collette Vacations in Pawtucket, visit www.collettevacations.com. Providence Business News subscribers also can read Ashley Mercado’s “Keeping businesses in the family,” from the PBN’s May 28 special section, Family-Owned Businesses.
Tourism Cares is a nonprofit organization “that brings people together to give back through grants to natural, cultural and historic sites around the world,” through volunteering to restore tourist sites in need of restoration and through scholarships and educationa programs to “nurture tourism’s future work force.” To learn more about the group or its Hall of Fame dinner, visit www.tourismcares.org.
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