Death of UK travel icon
Monday, 10 Nov, 2009
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James Hoseason OBE, has died aged 82.
Recognised as a true travel industry pioneer, he took charge of Hoseasons Holidays in 1950, and guided the company for nearly half a century before retiring in 1999, having created one of the leading travel companies in the UK.
His vision meant Hoseasons was first to try many new ideas including direct telephone bookings, computerised reservations, ‘dial-a-brochure’ requests, and the business was renowned for its iconic TV advertising for UK self-catering holidays.
He became a prominent figure in the travel industry, was a board member of the English Tourist Board, a founder member of the Tourism Society and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He was made an OBE for his services to tourism in 1990.
Born in 1927 in the Shetlands, he grew up in Lowestoft in Suffolk, where his father Wally was harbourmaster. In 1944, Hoseason senior started hiring out boats in the Norfolk Broads on behalf of their owners. James Hoseason, a civil engineer by trade, took over the business on his father’s death.
During the following decades, he guided the business through rapid growth, adding holiday parks and then holiday cottages to the mix, and by 1999 when he stepped down, the company was – and still is – catering for more than one million holidaymakers a year.
Current chief executive Richard Carrick, chief executive at Hoseasons said: “Jim was an icon of the UK tourism industry who will be remembered with both enormous affection and respect by all those who worked with him, many of whom are still with the company today.
“His inspired foresight laid the foundation for a business which continues to be a top UK holiday company in today’s highly competitive marketplace and which retains the ideologies of customer care and staff welfare and training which were so close to his heart.”
Outside the travel industry, James Hoseason was passionate about flying, and was still flying with a co-pilot a couple of weeks before his death.
He was involved in establishing the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library in Norwich to commemorate the American airmen who were stationed in the region during World War Two, and wrote a book, The 1000 Day Battle, on the subject.
He leaves a widow and three sons.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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