Industry Mourns Loss of Bob Tisch, Loews Corp. Chairman

New York -- The hospitality industry is mourning the loss of Preston Robert "Bob" Tisch, chairman of the company that owns Loews Hotels, who died Tuesday of cancer at age 79.

With his late brother, Larry, Tisch built Loews Corp. into a diversified, Fortune 500 company that is involved in financial services, oil drilling, and Bulova watches as well as lodging. He was also a co-owner of the New York Giants football team.

Tisch served as chairman of the New York City Convention and Visitor's Bureau, now NYC & Company, for an unprecedented 19 years. He helped bring the Democratic National Convention to New York in 1976 and 1980, oversaw the 1976 Bicentennial Operation Sail, was involved in staging the centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty, and helped introduce the Big Apple tourism campaign.

"Bob was a wonderful man who was generous with his time and talent, and he influenced everyone he came in contact with," said Cristyne Nicholas, chief executive of NYC & Company.

Tisch was the father of Jonathan Tisch, current chairman of both Loews Hotels and NYC & Company.

Loews Hotels operates 18 upscale properties in the United States and Canada.