ABTA mourns death of Franzi Richter
Franzi Richter, former ABTA acting chief executive, has passed away after losing her battle against cancer.
Married to ABTA president Justin Fleming, Franzi, 56, joined ABTA in 1983 as executive secretary and left in 1995 as deputy chief executive.
“She was deeply respected and liked by all who worked with her,” said an ABTA statement today.
“The words “firm but fair” could have been made for Franzi and her leadership qualities came to fore in the 1990s when she took over the acting chief executive role in very difficult circumstances after the association had been hit by a string of large company failures.
“Everyone at the Secretariat extends their deepest condolences, Franzi will be greatly missed.”
Franzi came to the UK from her native Germany in the 1970s where she had obtained a degree in Economics from Kiel University and trained as an Education Officer.
She leaves behind a son, Kristian.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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