Gerardus "Gerard" Brackx was a Belgian businessman, pioneer of the Belgian travel business and founder of Jetair.
Background
His father was a Catholic businessman who owned a factory which produced washing machines and bicycles. On the verge of World World War II, his father died of pneumonia and Gerard had to start help working at the age of 16 to earn money for his family.
Career
Gerard was the seventh child out of nine. At the age of 24, after finishing school and serving in the army (part of which he spent in Kassel, Germany), he dreamt of a future in cars and traveling He worked there for five years when he saw the first busses appear in the garage.
In addition he started offering tours for Flemings to the English coast across the English Channel.
In 1958, with the Brussels World’s Fair came the breakthrough and in addition he started offering journeys to Lourdes, Tyrol and the Costa Brava. At the end of the sixties, he was the first Belgian tour operator who offered organised air travel in association with Sabena to Benidorm (Spain).
Foreign many years he would be known as Mijnheer Benidorm (Mister Benidorm) as he discovered Benidorm as a vacation resort during the sixties. In 1970, he opened his own Hotel Belroy in Benidorm and until 1978 would remain the only Belgian tour operator who offered flight vacations to Benidorm.
In 1996, he sold Jetair to the German travel organization Touristik Union International (TUI).
During his last years, Brackx occupied himself with the real estate of the family holding Immobra. He died in Ostend on 19 September 2011, aged 80 and was buried there on 24 September.