ACE mourns death of co-founder

The Association of Cruise Experts is mourning the death of its co-founder, Ken Page, at the age of 81.

Page was appointed director of the Passenger Shipping Association in 1985 and over the next nine years introduced a number of initiatives to raise the profile of cruise holidays.

In 1987, together with previous PSA chairman Bob Duffett, he established the first travel agency cruise training programme, PSARA (Passenger Shipping Association Retail Agents scheme), which later became ACE.

PSA director Bill Gibbons said: "Ken had established a fine track record before ill health forced his early retirement in 1994 when I took over.

"He had a huge amount of charm and humour and his stories were legendary.

"Over the last 19 years, Ken unfailingly attended our annual meetings and dinners in spite of increasing health and mobility problems. We can truly say that Ken was the PSA and he will be hugely missed."

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Post your comment

Your Comments

NOTE: Comments are subject to admin approval before being posted.

Remembering Ken Page

I'm very sorry to hear of the death of Ken Page. I knew Ken in my early days as a travel journalist when he was working for the Russian cruise company, CTC Lines. Representing a Soviet shipping line which frankly, offered some pretty grim ships, could have been quite a depressing experience. But Ken took it all in his stride, aided by his quick wit and mischievous sense of humour. He exemplified how the travel industry used to be; when it was much more sociable and characters were warmly-welcomed. He would have felt little empathy for today's breed of colourless pen-pushers.

By Peter Lilley, Wednesday, February 27, 2013