Joe Gaggero CBE

Joe Gaggero  who died on 10 February 2012 was awarded the CBE ( Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1989 and was made a Commander of the  Moroccan Royal  Alaouite Order of the Wissam in 2006.He was a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchure (The Vatican). He was awarded the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour in 2009, the KFO ( Knight of the Royal Order of Francis I ) by the Vatican in 2011. He was inducted in to the Hall of Fame, of the Travel and Hospitality Industry in 2007. He received the UK Air League Founders Medal in 2007.His autobiography " Running with the Baton" was published in 2005.

He was a Vice President of the Moroccan British Business Council and  headed the  international Bland Group based in Gibraltar, Spain, Morocco and England for 60 years and through GB Airways, made a major contribution to aviation, the global travel industry and UK tourism to Morocco.

After World War II, he became Director of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce 1951-56 and Head of the Gibraltar Government Tourist Department, he developed Gibraltar’s tourist trade and encouraged day visitors by opening up enough sites which had previously been under the control of the military to attract visitors, namely St Michael’s Caves, the Upper Galleries and even the Ape’s conservatory where access had been very restricted. He created an important tourism development from Gibraltar to the Costa del Sol by utilising Gibraltar as a stepping-stone and ensuring that it had all the transit facilities to come through Gibraltar before Malaga International Airport opened. This included self-drive cars, coach facilities to come through Gibraltar and meeting aircraft for onward travel to newly opened up resorts along the coast.

In rough figures tourist arrivals rose from 10,000 to 100,000 in 10 years and it created a new pillar for the Gibraltarian economy, which helped to free it from total dependence on the military.The Bland group developed its activities, which began in 1810 and passed to the Gaggero family in 1891. Joe's role was to develop the group’s tourism activities as previously it had been mainly concerned with ferry and shipping services.

During the Spanish economic restrictions under General Franco, when the stepping stone policy was killed off Gibraltar diversified its tourism in the form of sea and air services to Morocco to relieve siege conditions and carry Moroccan workers to Gibraltar and bring in fresh fruit and vegetables. Joe Gaggero further developed the relationship with British Airways and worked in partnership with them during this period. After the land border opened in 1983 , not being able to develop air services out of Gibraltar or to compete with the growth of  the  Algeciras port traffic to Morocco, GB Airways as it had become,with its BA franchise relocated to the UK and bought the Beehive as its headquarters at Gatwick.GB Airways, prior to selling to Easy jet, covered 35 destinations across the Mediterranean from Egypt to the Atlantic Islands of Madeira and the Canaries.

Joe  Gaggero was a tireless promotor of Morocco and its tourism as well as being a leading player in tourism on the world stage. He had a unique understanding of the regional dynamics of the Mediterranean region and an infectious enthusiasm which greatly enhanced British Moroccan relations. His son James Gaggero is the chairman of the Bland Group.