Culture secretary Michelle Donelan has appointed former Conservative MP Nick de Bois as chair of the British Tourist Authority for a term of three years.
Interim chair Dame Judith Macgregor will resume her duties as a board member for the BTA, which runs VisitBritain and VisitEngland.
She had taken over from Lord McLoughlin in August 2021 after he stepped down because of a potential conflict of interest with his role of chairman for Airlines UK.
De Bois has been chair of the VisitEngland advisory board since June 1, 2020, and led the government’s review into the funding and structures of England’s Destination Management Organisations.
He was MP for Enfield North from 2010 to 2015 and before his election, he was founder and managing director of Rapiergroup, an international events and exhibitions management agency that he set up in 1988.
In 2016, he was appointed chairman of the UK Government’s first Events Industry Board.
He resigned from that role in July 2018 to join the Department for Exiting the European Union as chief of staff and special advisor to the secretary of state Dominic Raab MP.
His appointment will be for three years, commencing on November 1, until October 31, 2025, and he will be offered remuneration of £40,000 per year.
He will be replaced at the VisitEngland advisory board by Fiona Pollard who has been appointed interim chair, from November 1 until July 31, 2023.
Pollard joined the board in March 2018, and was reappointed for a second term in March 2022.
She runs her own events company and sits on several boards, including the Roman Baths, one of the most visited tourist attractions in England.
After a career in the City working in the derivatives sector with a number of international banks, Pollard ran the Hop Farm Country Park in Kent until 2006. She was a founding member of the Kent Tourism Alliance and one of the original trustees behind the Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate.
VisitBritain said in a tweet: “We are delighted to welcome @nickdebois CBE as our new Chair of the #BritishTouristAuthority from 1 Nov, appointed by @DCMS. He replaces Dame @JudithMacgregor who will remain on the Board. We thank her for her work and look forward to working with Nick!”
We are delighted to welcome @nickdebois CBE as our new Chair of the #BritishTouristAuthority from 1 Nov, appointed by @DCMS. He replaces Dame @JudithMacgregor who will remain on the Board.
We thank her for her work and look forward to working with Nick! https://t.co/Q6jb2cu1GDpic.twitter.com/UggV4OkbDZ
— VisitBritain Biz (@VisitBritainBiz) October 24, 2022
He commented on Twitter: “Delighted & honoured to take up this new role. It’s been a tough 3 years for the tourism & wider visitor economy. I look forward to working with this extraordinary sector, government and @VisitBritain to build our international visitors and support the work of domestic tourism.”
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