RON MRACKY HONOURS AFRICA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION CO-FOUNDER PETER MUIRURI
(Posted 24th November 2015)
When an organization like the Africa Travel Association, founded in 1975, celebrates its fourtieth annual congress, as just recently done in Nairobi, where it all started, it is time to take a moment, take stock and look back and almost inevitably honour those fellow members who have over time passed on.
Ron Mracky, a congress regular with his wife Sylvia, recognized Kenya’s co-founder of ATA and driving force to establish the organization, when he was posted to New York to run the Kenya tourist office there from 1974 to 1977 before returning home and joining the African Tours and Hotels as Director of Marketing.
Ron kindly shared his eulogy with me allowing it to be reproduced here in recognition of an ATA great, one fit to be inducted into the Africa Travel hall of fame, one whose vision of fourty years ago led to the successes the organization has since recorded:
‘With this congress we celebrate 40 years of ATA and are in Nairobi once again – just as we have done every ten years since 1975. And with that we also need to celebrate the man, a key tourism executive in Kenya, who is primarily responsible for ATA’s beginning.
The man we celebrate is Peter Muiruri – who in 1974 through ’77 was the Director of the Kenya Tourist Office in New York, then the hub of everything ‘tourism’.
He was a consummate tourism marketing professional and established Kenya’s and Africa’s presence during the excitement of the seventies – great time of leisure international tourism. As part of his promotional efforts he held monthly luncheon meetings with marketing reps from companies with travel business to Africa and specifically Kenya, among them the classic names of African tourism: InterContinental, Pan Am, Park East, British Airways, Sabena, British Caledonian and Alitalia.
This informal monthly group became important and eventually needed a name and seeing other travel associations such as the Caribbean and the Pacific Area Travel Association they named the new organization THE AFRICA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION – the year was 1975.
Peter took this new entity through its legal beginnings, with the ATA originators electing Murray Vidocker, then from British Caledonian Airways, as the Chairman of what was the first marketing organization to promote travel and tourism to Africa.
Almost immediately ATA gained tremendous industry support with new chapters and members coming online, many who since then have become major movers of US tourists to Africa and Peter saw the need for a major, and REALLY major launch event.
He contacted the government urging for Kenya to sponsor the launch event in Nairobi. The government agreed and with additional support from Kenya’s private sector, the hotels, airlines, tour operators and travel agents, the first ATA Congress was on and ATA was launched in Nairobi in April 1976.
Over 300 delegates attended the first congress at which a resolution was voted for every tenth congress to be held in Kenya, and that’s why you’re here.
With this we celebrate the vision that Peter had and although he is not with us anymore, missing this congress and celebration by only a few weeks, we officially acknowledge Peter Muiruri as the man who had the vision for Africa and became the driving force in establishing the Africa Travel Association.
Peter’s wife Margaret is here to accept our proclamation and accept the celebratory applause for Peter’s work and commitment to Kenya’s and Africa’s tourism.
Let us celebrate Peter with a round of applause, loud enough so he can hear us …
I salute both Peter and Ron, who delivered this recognition at the ATA Gala Night and Awards Dinner in Nairobi two weeks ago, taking time to remember where it all started and who started it all. Too often is the past forgotten, pushed aside to make way for the new, the current and the future but we owe it to those who were there before us to keep them in our thoughts, as a living memorial of what was and where we came from.
Asante Sana Ron and fare thee well Peter – until we meet again!
