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Industry pays tribute to Simon Myers, who died on Friday aged 48
Tributes have poured in from the travel industry for Simon Myers, who died on Friday aged 48.
He was taken into hospital last Monday and died on Friday night.
Around 1,000 people attended his funeral yesterday at the United Synagogue in Bushey, many of them from the travel trade.
Vincent Sitwell, a close friend and former colleague at Conrad Advertising, now Accord Group, said Myers was incredibly successful at what he did and was always tremendous fun to work with.
"He was always telling jokes and making us laugh, even if they were the same jokes he’d told a million times! They always made him laugh anyway!
"He had a heart of gold and nobody has anything but fond memories of him."
He said Myers had a history of diabetes and other health issues.
"He was very nice and open to other people, but there was a lot going inside that he didn’t want to share with others, so nobody really knew how ill he was. Everyone was very shocked when he died."
Myers worked for Conrad Advertising for 15 years between 1994 and 2009.
Since then he has worked on a freelance basis for Goodman Associates as a new business introducer.
Clive Goodman, director of Goodman Associates, said Myers was "an extremely well liked and well connected business professional".
"He had worked for us for around four and a half years and was able to introduce us to a number of very exciting prospects. He will be sorely missed and we send our condolences to his family and to his other friends and colleagues in the industry," he said.
Goodman Associates head of travel Gary Collins and a close friend of Myers said: "He was always the life and soul at the industry’s conferences. You only have to look at all the comments on his Facebook page to see how popular he was and how he will be missed."
Another close friend and collegue, Neil Herbert, head of partnerships global marketing for Value Retail, said: "Simon was one of the kindest, funniest and most unique men that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, with more friends than anyone I know.
"He could be abrasive at times but he was without exception a man who brought a smile to everyone he came into contact with and could fill a room with a smile. His one-liners were legendary and he never failed to hold an audience and have those around him in stitches."
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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