Global Vacation Group Management to Buy Up to 75,000 Shares; Company to Also Acquire Up to 350,000 Shares in Two Additional Programs.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1998--Global Vacation Group (NYSE: GVG), one of the largest U.S. providers of value-added vacation products and services targeted to higher-income travelers, today announced that a group comprising members of its senior management team and board of directors will purchase up to 75,000 shares of GVG stock in the open market over the next 12 months.

In addition, the company will repurchase up to 250,000 shares of its stock. Global Vacation Group currently has approximately 14.7 million shares of common stock outstanding of which three million shares are publicly traded.

The company's board of directors also authorized the purchase of up to 100,000 shares of the company's common stock over a one-year period for the company's new 401(k) employee retirement plan. The stock will be used to match employee contributions in the 401(k) plan based upon the company meeting certain corporate growth and profit objectives. "We want all of our employees to have an opportunity to participate in what we believe is the attractive upside potential of our stock," said Roger Ballou, Global Vacation Group's chairman and chief executive officer.

"Although the purpose behind each program is different, the underlying principle is the same. We are taking this action because of our conviction that our stock is undervalued and represents a sound investment at these levels," said Ballou. "The management group will include senior management and outside directors, a total of 11 executives. We remain confident about Global's strengths and strategies, and we are backing that confidence with our own money.

"Industry fundamentals have not changed since our IPO in late July and remain quite positive. Our recently reported quarterly results were in line with analysts' expectations for both the third quarter and nine months. We believe our stock's price decline since the IPO is a result of general market conditions rather than our company's outlook," he said. The stock closed yesterday at $6.6875 per share.

The shares will be purchased from time to time on the open market and in accordance with SEC regulations governing issuer repurchases.

Global Vacation Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a value-added provider of vacation products and services. Global Vacation Group family of brands includes Classic Custom Vacations, which creates customized vacation packages for upscale U.S. travelers, Globetrotters, which is targeted to the popularly priced-vacation buyer, and Allied Tours, which creates and coordinates packages and tours for vacation wholesalers located primarily in Europe.

The matters in this press release include "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are qualified by cautionary statements contained herein and in Global Vacation Group's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.