David Gant Elmore, whose family-owned Elmore Companies operates Gant Travel (No. 32 on Travel Weekly's 2022 Power List) in Bloomington, Ind., died June 7. He was 88.
David Gant Elmore
Elmore graduated from Indiana University with a law degree, but his entrepreneurial spirit led him to acquiring and operating companies in a number of industries, including sports, tourism, real estate and life insurance, starting in the late 1970s.
He specifically looked for travel companies headed toward bankruptcy, acquiring and rebuilding them.
Elmore was a pioneer in tourism into the then-Soviet Union as well as China, with travel companies that sent customers around the world, according to his obituary. In 1983, Elmore was appointed to the White House Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Today, Elmore Companies operates 15 businesses, including Gant Travel. Elmore's son, D.G., eventually took over Gant and Elmore Companies.