The founder of Tucan Travel, Pip Tyler, has died in Sydney aged 64 after a long battle with cancer.
Tyler founded the adventure travel specialist with his wife, Liliana, in 1987, when they ran the business together from South America.
The couple had to work in a pub to supplement their income before starting their first tour from Bogota in November 1987. The first section, from Bogota to Lima, had only three passengers on board with a further four joining at Lima.
A passionate traveller, one of Tyler’s favourite countries was Guatemala. However, he always had a soft spot for Colombia, the country where he met his wife.
Tyler maintained an active role in the company, working to develop Tucan Travel’s tailor-made team in Australia until June this year when he and Liliana formally retired and left the business.
The couple were able to spend his final months in the company of some of their closest friends and family in Australia and around the world.
Tucan Travel chief executive, Matt Gannan, said: “Pip was a travel industry giant who helped build the adventure travel industry into what it is today.
“It was Pip’s drive, optimism and hard work that helped make Tucan Travel a household name and he will always be remembered for this.
“I will miss Pip a great deal. On behalf of everyone at Tucan Travel, I would like to send our condolences to Liliana and their daughter Shanna and to Pip’s other family both in Australia and the UK.”