Tributes have been paid to Page & Moy co-founder and “bon viveur” Tony Moy, who has died aged 77.
Escorted tours company Page & Moy Travel, which launched in 1961, specialised in taking fans to the 24-hour sports car race at Le Mans before expanding to cater for Formula One spectators around the world.
The business grew fast to embrace many aspects of tour operating, initially as reader offers.
A large part of Page & Moy’s business was using group travel as an incentive for corporate employees and combining exotic locations for conferences and product launches – Moy is credited with launching incentive travel in the UK.
Page & Moy Travel later became Page & Moy Motivation and then Page & Moy Marketing, or P&MM.
Moy and co-owner John Fisher, now of FMI Group, sold the business in 1998.
Page and Moy Travel Group, which incorporated Travelsphere, Page & Moy and Just You, was acquired by All Leisure Group in 2012 for £4.2 million and Page & Moy was renamed Travelsphere.
For the past nine years Moy was a director and shareholder of Sunliving Travel, the parent of Leicester-based cycling, boating and river cruising operation Freewheel.
Co-director at Sunliving Travel, Paul Cresswell, described Moy as “an engaging companion and bon viveur”.
“He enjoyed life to the full, not only indulging his passion for travelling but also his interest in motorsport and flying both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters,” he said.
“His interest extended to inland waterways and to a fleet of more than 100 narrow boats which under the name of “Anglo Welsh” became part of Page & Moy.”
Lynden Swainston, of Grand Prix travel and hospitality company Lynden Swainston Associates, wrote on Twitter: “Very sad news of the death of Tony Moy, the person who instilled me with love of motorsport.”
Moy’s funeral was held on May 31 in Great Bowden, Leicestershire.