In the mid-'70s, Lina De Cesare's love of travel led her to join the team of Tourbec, a travel agency specializing in youth and student tourism. There she worked alongside Jean-Marc Eustache and Philippe Sureau. It was an association that turned out to be decisive, as all three went on, in 1987, to found Transat A.T. Inc., today Canada's tourism industry leader and a major international player.

Ms. De Cesare knows the tourism industry inside-out, having worked as, among other things, a tour guide in Paris, a reservations agent and a travel agent, before serving in numerous management positions with Tourbec, Trafic Voyages and Multitours, which in 1991 merged to become Air Transat Holidays. The same year, Ms. De Cesare was named President and Chief Executive Officer of this new company, which under her direction became Canada's travel leader, with offices in all major cities.

Under her management, Transat Holidays won several tourism industry awards in Canada and abroad, including Tour Operator of the Year several times by the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies. It was also named several times by the Cuban government as the leading tour operator for travel to that country.

In 1999, Ms. De Cesare was appointed Executive Vice-President, Tour Operators, for Transat A.T. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing the presence of the group's member tour operators in their respective markets, in France as well as in Canada. In January 2005, she was named President, Tour Operators.