USTOA leader Bob Whitley dies

Robert Whitley, longtime leader of the U.S. Tour Operators Association and a central figure in the travel industry, died May 13 of complications from abdominal surgery. He was 66.

Whitley guided the USTOA for 32 years. Over the years, he has led the organization through a number of crises in the industry, including natural and man-made disasters and the collapse of some major tour operators.

Under Whitley's leadership, the organization grew to become a major force in the U.S. travel industry and an influential advocate of travel throughout the world. The USTOA currently includes 47 corporate members, encompassing nearly 165 brands that account for more than $9 billion dollars in sales.

The USTOA was founded in California in 1972 in response to two major concerns: the need to protect consumers from tour operator bankruptcies and to represent and protect the interests of U.S. tour operators in the face of cumbersome federal requirements regulating charter and scheduled flights. The year Whitley was appointed president, 1978, the association became national in scope and moved its headquarters to New York.

Before joining the USTOA, Whitley held positions as director of the Florida and Pennsylvania departments of tourism and director of the Virginia Beach (Va.) Convention and Tourist Bureau.

Whitley has been the recipient of numerous marketing awards for travel promotion, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 from Travel Weekly, and has served on the board of directors of the U.S. Travel Association, the executive committee of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives and the board of trustees for the Institute of Certified Travel Agents.

Whitley is survived by his wife, Carol; three children, Scott, Sean and Kelly; and five grandchildren. 

In lieu of flowers, Whitley's family requests that contributions be made in Whitley's name to Tourism Cares.

To read colleagues' remembrances of Whitley, click here.