The Bob Whitley Memorial Fund

Tourism Cares joins the travel industry in remembering Bob Whitley, who passed away on May 13th, 2010. President of the United States Tour Operators Association, and a travel industry icon whose career of leadership spanned more than 40 years, Bob was a founder of Tourism Cares and a true champion of its mission.

Many of Bob’s friends and colleagues established the Bob Whitley Memorial Fund through gifts in his memory to Tourism Cares. These gifts are being put to good use in for areas of conservation and preservation.

• In 2011, the first Bob Whitley Memorial Fund grant was made to  the Amigos de Sian Ka'an, which works to preserve the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. This grant supported the Research and Education Station Rebuilding Project at Mahahual, a site for environmental education and new technologies.
• The 2012 grant was made to the Petra Archeological Site in Jordan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to support the expansion of the Petra Junior Ranger Program to include 10 to 12 year-old local youth.
• The  2013 Bob Whitley Memorial Fund grant has been awarded to the Honorary Rangers Program of South Africa National Parks to expand the successful dog patrol program at Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town.

Those who wish to make a secure, online donation to Tourism Cares in Bob's memory may do so by clicking here.

To make a memorial donation by check, please mail your gift to: Tourism Cares, 275 Turnpike St., Suite 307, Canton, MA 02021.

Bob Whitley was inducted into the Tourism Hall of Fame on December 10th, 2010 at the USTOA Conference