Selling Travel was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of travel agent Sandy Murray, who has died aged 78 after a period of ill health.
Sandy, a regular contributor to Selling Travel over many years, founder of Sandy’s Travel Escapes and a former ABTA regional Chair, helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for various charities through the annual Yorkshire Ball.
Tributes to Sandy have flowed in from industry friends.
Jonathan Tighe, Managing Director at Oakwood Travel told Selling Travel: “Sandy was a true friend always having time, patience and consideration for all in our hectic lives and our industry.
“Her favourite place to travel to was Crete – even once bringing a cat back home with her, which I’m sure everyone knows about!
“She was inspired by new destinations to travel to and explore and was always keen to keep learning new things.
“One of her last trips was to Las Vegas. She hired a mobility scooter then wrote about how easy accessible travel can be, adapting to the situation and making sure the right facilities are in place.
“I will miss her immensely. For myself she will always be remembered with a smile and the odd glass of bubbles; I will never forget her.”
Jenny Jackson, founder of the Travel Agents Rants and Raves Facebook group, posted a touching tribute on the platform and urged others to share their memories of Sandy.
“Very sad news today of the passing of one of our lovely members – the travel legend Sandy Murray,” Jenny wrote.
“My memory was on a fam trip to Casale Panayiotis in the Troodos Mountains and Sandy revving up a quad bike and racing around a vineyard full throttle with her hair blowing in the wind and a huge smile on her face! I am not even sure she knew how to stop the damn thing.
“I hasten to add that no grapes were harmed during Sandy’s quad bike exploits!”
Jessica Alexander, Editor of Selling Travel (currently on maternity leave) said: “Sandy had such a warm and caring nature and always radiated positivity. I would look forward to receiving her bi-monthly column for Selling Travel as her light-hearted anecdotes and upbeat quotes would always make me smile.
“She loved animals and she advocated for animal welfare, from raising awareness when booking travel to raising huge sums of money for charity at the yearly Yorkshire Travel Ball – a popular industry event which she took pride in organising herself. She will be sorely missed by all that knew her.
“I’ll finish with one of her favourite quotes: ‘Never regret a day in your life: Good days give happiness, bad days experience, worst days give lessons.’”
Selling Travel’s Steven Thompson added: “Sandy was a great friend of Selling Travel.
“She was the matriarch of the travel industry in the Leeds area, organising the Yorkshire Ball for years; she will be missed by many in the industry.”
