Ron Simms, former managing director and co-founder of Virgin Holidays, died last week after a long illness aged 77.
Simms, who joined from Cosmos, was one of the founders of Virgin Holidays in 1985 and also worked at Pegasus Holidays.
He was latterly a non-executive director of the UK arm of Wendy Wu Tours.
Virgin Holidays led industry tributes.
A spokesman said: “Ron helped to found Virgin Holidays in 1985, joining from Cosmos, and grew it to one of the top five tour operators in the country before retiring in 2001.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that in his 16 years at Vhols, Ron helped to establish the culture of innovation we still enjoy today, and his tenure saw us introduce numerous travel industry firsts – from offering packages to post-Glasnost Russia to launching a loyalty programme for the holiday market, from Disney Downtown Check-In to one of the first ever CD-ROM brochures (remember them?).
“During his time here, the company went from selling basic seven-night packages to Florida aboard an upstart new airline launched just a year before by an unconventional young entrepreneur called Richard Branson, to selling a huge range of destinations that took in the Caribbean, Far East, South Africa, cruising and even Mediterranean Europe.
“While we’re a very different business now, we wouldn’t be that business without the efforts of Ron and his team in those early days.
“There are still people in the company who worked with him, and his passing represents an opportunity for us to remember him and acknowledge his legacy.”
The family have asked for any messages of condolence to be left on Simms’ Facebook page.