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| Alex Harris |
General Tours World Traveler is joined by Travel Agent magazine in noting the passing earlier this month of its founder and Chairman Emeritus, Alex Harris, at age 91.
Harris was a brilliant pioneer of the modern American tourism industry, founding General Tours in 1947. In 1954, after requesting special permission from the U.S. State Department and Eisenhower Administration, he was granted the authority to operate the first scheduled tours to the Soviet Union for American travelers.
He expanded General Tours into a worldwide travel company and continued to innovate, helping to develop the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) into a preeminent trade and marketing association.
Harris was inducted into the ASTA Hall of Fame in 1992 and received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2005. Over the decades, he received widespread recognition from his peers for his vision and success and was the recipient of numerous other awards.