PEPE VAUGHAN MBE MCIPR
The name Pepe Vaughan is synonymous with Gibraltar tourism as for more than a
decade his was the handsome face of the Gibraltar Tourist Office.-
Joseph Vaughan, 81, known universally as Pepe, was educated at the Line Wall
College and Illminster Grammar School, Somerset. His father was posted to the Rock with
the Eastern Telegraph, fore runner of Cable and Wireless, and married a daughter of a
Spanish Doctor who lived and practised on the Rock.
During the War his father joined the Royal Navy, eventually ending up in Royal
Naval Intelligence. The Vaughans were evacuated to England under the Royal Naval
evacuation scheme and went to stay in Somerset with the paternal grandparents.
In 1943 Pepe followed his father and brother, Bernard, into the Royal Navy opting for
the Fleet Air Arm. Jocularly he ascribes his reputation as a ‘hard man’ to the commando
training where he was taught about jungle warfare, fighting with stilettos, the use of toggles
to strangle and unarmed combat. The objective was to train those on the course to kill or be
killed.
Late 1944 saw him posted to Mobile Naval Air Bases (MONAB) in Ceylon with the
South East Asia Command headquartered in Colombo. His first posting was to the Fleet Air
Arm base in Sulur in Central Southern India where he flew in a variety of aircraft such as
Barracudas and Avengers. Later he served at Kalutra and Trincomale prior to sailing back in
the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable which kindly dropped him off at Gibraltar.
After demobilisation in 1946 he joined the Civil Service where his subsequent career
took him to a wide variety of departments. This was during the time when the Civil Service
had no Minister or politician to offer direction but was the fiefdom of the Deputy Governor
who administered according to the direction of the Governor.
Vaughan worked in the Treasury for a few years before being sent to the Police
Department to restore order to the financial accounting system.
In 1958 when Radio Gibraltar took to the airways Howard Davis invited him to do
some sports commentary and a weekly broadcast. This would be pro bono. This modest
beginning was expanded and from this acorn came the legendary team of Henry Ramagge as
Producer and Director, Manolo Mascarenhas to broadcast in Spanish with Pepe responsible
for the English output. Thus he is a founder member of Radio Gibraltar. His voluntary work
load expanded and he found himself commentating on football matches in Lisbon, religious
services, and even political events such as the return from New York of Sir Joshua Hassan
and Peter Isola. There was also the unexpected bonus of interviewing stars such as Moira
Shearer and Ludovic Kennedy. This alas came to an end in 1966.
Pepe was an outstanding all round sportsman concentrating on cricket and football,
playing for the Europa Football Club. Today he is an avid watcher of sport and loves nothing
more than to meet his fellow sportsmen for a chat in Main Street.
Vaughan progressed smoothly up the Civil Service ladder. After six years in the Treasury he
applied for a job in the fledgling Tourist Office in Waterport. In 1963 the senior Civil Service
mandarins appreciating his potential appointed him as the youngest ever Customs Chief or
Collector of Revenue as it was known in civil service speak. Today Pepe admits that on the
day he assumed command the truth came home which was that he knew absolutely nothing
about Customs and the collection of revenue. Swiftly he arranged to be sent to the United
Kingdom on attachment and soon learnt the intricacies of this arcane branch of the Civil
Service. Upon his return he changed the structure of the Customs even to the point of
changing the uniform which he considered to look too military.
In 1967 after four years in post he was moved to be the Assistant Secretary
(Development) with Howard Davis as his line manager. Sir Robert Peliza was elected Chief
Minister and ethos of the Civil Service changed from reporting ultimately to the Deputy
Governor to Gibraltarian politicians and eventually elected ministers.
Pepe always had a
vision of one day working again in tourism and his dream was achieved in 1970 when he
was appointed Director of Tourism. His was also the Air Port manager. After twelve years as
Director he resigned over a matter of principle and of all the ministers he served he regards
Willy Isola as the best. ‘Willy was a hard working gentleman who was very very good at his
job’.
Rodney Scrase , his predecessor, opened a small office in Northumberland Avenue
under the shadow of the statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson. This was too small to deal with
the growing interest in Gibraltar as a destination and Willy Isola agreed with Vaughan’s
suggestion that it be moved to a larger office. This was round the corner in Trafalgar Square.
By this time Abraham Serfaty was the Minister who agreed that a Gibraltarian be sent to
London as manager. Jon Jo Gomez was appointed and a house in Dulwich was bought for
the manager for £17,000. This house was recently sold by the Gibraltar Government for a
considerable profit.
Talking to Pepe is to be given a lesson in tourism economics and politics in the 1970s.
This period covered the intense political struggle between Willy Isola and the Flying Major,
Alfredo Gache. It also provided future Ministers and Directors of Tourism with a blueprint of
how tourism should be sold in the United Kingdom.
Roger Braban was appointed by Scrase and carried on for a limited period of time.
Dunn Meynell Keefe handled the advertising and the business was eventually bought out by
its management and became Lonsdale Advertising. The Gibraltar Tourist Office, although the
account was only £120,000, was an important client to a new agency as it was a Country
account. This meant that the best brains in the agency – Ivan Stainer, Bob Wright, Donovan
Hailstone , Tom Vaughan and David Berrill – worked for small Gibraltar.
Michael Andrews of Daniel Edelman Ltd handled the public relations. Pepe decided
that bringing out parties of journalists was counterproductive as one bad apple in the mix
could result in many bad articles. Instead he instructed Michael Andrews to bring out one
journalist at a time. It was time consuming but produced first class copy selling Gibraltar, the
tourist paradise of the Western Mediterranean.
The Director of Tourism also decided that it was the Gibraltar Tourist Office’s prime
objective to sell the destination – Gibraltar – and not by selling bed nights. This did not go
down well with some of the commercial operators such as the airlines which expected joint
advertising to mean GTO 99%, tour operator or airline 1%. The Minister, Willy Isola, agreed
and it was decided to do away with these paltry contributions and the GTO would undertake
the advertising and marketing under its own steam. However all who sent tourists to Gibraltar
would be consulted and asked for their opinions. From this idea came the eventual UK-GTA
regular meetings in London and Gibraltar.
The highlight of his career was an Economist Intelligence Unit report which stated
that considering what was available on the Rock , the Gibraltar Tourist Office was doing a
wonderful job.
In 1970 Vaughan was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
At the time the limited budget prevented an appearance at the World Travel market.
But Pepe explored other means of promoting Gibraltar such as yachting in collaborating with
John Crookshank. This was the seed that today has resulted in Gibraltar being one of the best
marinas in southern Iberia.
There were also the proverbial spats with BEA , which became British Airways, who
were always applying pressure to be granted higher fares. Vaughan saw that the only way to
oppose this was by attending the CAA meetings. On one famous occasion the airline
threatened to withdraw from the Gibraltar route and the Deputy Governor Tom Broadley
said words to the effect that if you want to withdraw then we will do our best to help you.
The bully backed down and this threat was never repeated again.
In the early eighties Joe Pitaluga was commissioned to write a report about the future
of tourism in Gibraltar. The report was excellently written but its main recommendations
were totally unacceptable to the Director of Tourism. He asked himself – is it going to work?
And rapidly came to the conclusion that it would not. So he offered his resignation to the
Deputy Governor who was head of the Civil Service. It was accepted with considerable
reluctance. The result was that Joe Pitaluga had to serve as acting director for several
months.
The unplanned resignation meant a career change for Pepe and so he started up his
own business involving magazine representation, property sales and financial centre
companies.
Today Pepe is the epitome of a happy man. He puts this down to the influence of his
parents and two happy marriages. The first to Theresa Pons with whom he had two children
and who died tragically at the age of 49. The second to Aileen Andlaw Cruz, the widow of
Charlie Cruz, with her three sons and one daughter. Today he has countless grandchildren
from his own children and his step children.
Pepe is a consultant for Cruz & Co, a law firm founded in 1996 by his step son Nick
Cruz, and can be found each day working in the office. He is also a director of Acquarius
Trust. This keeps him active and busy with the effect that no one would imagine that he is an
octogenarian. He has found the elixir of perpetual youth: hard work and a happy family life.