by Brian Major
Last updated: 12:55 PM ET, Mon June 9, 2025
Jim Furey was a pioneering Caribbean advocate and supporter. (Photo Credit: Jim Furey)
Jim Furey, a Caribbean tourism pioneer, passed away on May
31 following a brief illness. He was 85.
Founder of Furey & Associates, Jim was a trusted
advisor, gifted storyteller and tireless advocate for the Caribbean. He started
in the publishing business at the Bayonne Times and later worked at the New
York Herald Tribune.
Later, he joined The New York Times and in 1969, was
named Western Hemisphere Promotion Manager, where he pioneered a series of
special advertising sections dedicated to the Caribbean. He helped define the
way the region would be introduced to generations of travelers.
In 1976, Jim and his wife Barbara founded Furey &
Associates, a marketing and communications firm focused on what they described
as “travel marketing through targeted publishing.”
Over nearly three decades, the firm became one of the most
respected marketing agencies working to promote emerging Caribbean islands. Jim
served as a publisher’s representative for some of the country’s most
prestigious media brands—including Business Week, The Los Angeles
Times, Southern Living, Sports Illustrated, U.S. News
& World Report, and The Star-Ledger—building lasting bridges
between destinations and the audiences they hoped to reach.
Early in his career, Jim joined with other travel industry stalwarts
to launch the first Caribbean Tourism Association chapter (now the Caribbean
Tourism Organization) in New York, laying important groundwork for promotion
of the region.
In the early 1980s, he and Barbara launched Caribbean Sales
Seminars, a precursor of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s annual State of
the Industry Conference.
Widely admired for his intelligence, warmth, and wit, Furey
believed deeply in the power of connection. He leaves behind an industry
better for his presence and a legacy that continues in the work of those he
mentored, collaborated with, and inspired.
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