Travel industry friends have paid their own tributes to the life and work of BBC presenter Jill Dando.
Travel Weekly managing director Trevor Harding said Jill had the ability to be the friend of everyone that she met and knew. “She was well respected by the industry. The industry loved her and so did the public,” he said.
ABTAalso paid tribute to a close friend of the association. Head of corporate affairs Keith Betton said: “I never found anything I did not like about her. She was incredibly nice and I was particularly upset by the way that she died.
“She very much realised that there are a lot of people on television are awful and very few that were nice. She was one of them and that made her special.”
Betton and Dando both appeared on the This Morning show with Richard and Judy answering travel questions – her success as presenter of the BBC’s Holiday programme ensured Jill was an honourary member of the industry.
“We were like a dynamic duo,” remembered Betton.
Chief executive of the Magic Travel Group Jackie Kernaghan met Jill at many industry functions.
She said: “She always made you feel comfortable, as if you were friends.
“Jill was such a good person. I cannot bear the thought she has gone and cannot believe it. It is an absolute tragedy, especially as she was so happy in her life.”
Yasmin Sethna, marketing and public relations manager at Magic Travel Group, became firm friends with Jill after a trip together to Capri.
This was followed up by a shopping weekend to Tuscany in January.
“She was totally like her public persona and got excited about things like bargains,” said Sethna. Jill invited Sethna to her engagement party earlier this year.
“She was very excited about her new life. Her death is such a waste at this turning point in her life,” said Sethna.
Harding’s favourite Jill anecdote – told many times by herself – summed up her down-to-earth style.
He said: ” She was on holiday in Australia and was sitting at a beach bar. Two lads were behind her when one says “that’s Jill Dando”. “No it is not” says the other. “Jill has got a much better bum”.
Travel Weekly editor Jeremy Skidmore added:”A lot of celebrities are full of their own importance, but Jill was never like that. She was good fun and genuinely interested in other people.”