PAX's Founder Uguette Chiasson retires; daughter Marie-Klaude named president & GM

Pax Global Media Inc., Canada’s leading travel trade news company, is announcing that its president and founder, Uguette Chiasson, has retired after 37 years in the travel industry and 42 years as owner of various publishing houses.

“It has been a privilege to work alongside such talented individuals and to build a company that has made a positive impact on our industry,” says Chiasson. “I am now 72 years old. I want to enjoy life, play bridge, go boating, have fun with my friends and spend time with my grandchildren. And travel more – especially on cruises.”

To lead Pax Global Media into its next chapter, Uguette’s daughter, Marie-Klaude Gagnon, has been named president and general manager of the company. The changes took effect on August 7.

A family affair

Based in Laval, Quebec, Gagnon is no stranger to the family business. Since childhood, she has helped her mother build Pax Global Media into the strong and influential travel industry media company it is today.

Gagnon previously worked at Pax Global Media for 12 years, including three years as CEO. She has also spent time working in the pharmaceutical industry, where she earned several honours in sales and marketing.

“It is with great pleasure that I return to the family business,” says Marie-Klaude Gagnon, president and general manager of Pax Global Media. “I am determined to innovate our products and explore new opportunities to continue my mother's hard work and ensure a prosperous future for the company.”

Supporting this mission is a national group of journalists, and the Pax Global Media team, which includes Nancy Benetton-Sampath, vice-president – media, and Michael Pihach, managing editor of Pax News, both of whom are based in Toronto, as well as Serge Abel-Normandin, managing editor of Pax Nouvelles, in Montreal. 

“We have the best team in the business,” continues Gagnon. “The knowledge and passion they bring to their work is what makes Pax Global Media the industry leader it is today. I look forward to continuing this collaboration.”

A Quebec success story

Founded in 1992, Pax Global Media Inc. is like its founder, Uguette Chiasson: a real go-getter.

After completing studies in journalism at the University of Montreal, Chiasson freelanced at her local newspaper at the age of 18, reporting on the news and activities that defined life in her village in Quebec.

From there, and for the next seven years, she worked as an executive secretary and information officer at Quebec’s CLSC. Then, while on a sabbatical, she took a different direction.

At the age of 31, with no experience and just $2,000 in her pocket, she launched her first monthly print magazine. The publication, which covered topics and stories pertaining to the field of office administration, had a distribution of 30,000 copies per issue and was sold by subscription and on newsstands. With the help of a newly-hired team, the first issue debuted in September 1986.

This was Uguette Chiasson’s beginnings in the publishing world – a sector she would continue to thrive in.

She started in the travel industry by founding the Quebec-based travel agency Club Top Vacances.

She then saw an opportunity to write three travel books, launch a supplier advertising distribution service, and publish the first daily travel industry news release in Quebec, then in Canada, by fax.

Today, Pax Global Media Inc. brings together powerful media products in the travel industry in Canada, including Pax News, Pax Nouvelles, Pax Travel Jobs, Quick Presse, Pax Circulation and Pax Webinars.

“Thank you for the wonderful memories”

Though officially retired, Chiasson will remain on Pax Global Media’s Board of Directors and serve as a consultant for the development of the company.

“I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together,” says Chiasson. “It's time for the young people to take over at Pax Global Media. I know the company will be in good hands.”

She thanks the travel industry for supporting her for more than three decades.

“Thank you to travel advisors for reading us for 32 years and to suppliers for contributing to the success of the company,” Chiasson says. “From fabulous conferences to press trips to events, it has been a long journey, spent with the entire industry. Thank you for the wonderful memories.”

Don't miss a single travel story: subscribe to PAX today!  Click here to follow PAX on Facebook.