The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy has today, 11 February 2026, announced the appointment of Richard Morsley and Rachel Walter as members of the VisitEngland Advisory Board. The appointments are for a five-year term beginning from 6 March 2026.
Richard Morsley is Chief Executive of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, a preservation and learning charity responsible for The Historic Dockyard Chatham. Richard is a senior leader with more than fifteen years’ experience across the heritage, cultural, education and local government sectors, recognised for his strategic, commercial, and place-based approach to heritage stewardship.
He brings extensive experience of board-level governance, major public and charitable projects and programmes, partnership working with local authorities, destination management organisations, and national funders. Richard is a strong advocate for heritage-led regeneration and has seen first-hand the transformative impact of long-term, place-based heritage investment on communities, skills, and pride of place. Prior to joining the Historic Dockyard, Richard was Director at Betteshanger Park and Deputy Director at Turner Contemporary. He is a member of the Creative Estuary Advisory Board, member of the Medway Place Board, and a Kent Ambassador.
Rachel Walter is a senior tourism and commercial leader with over 20 years’ experience across destination development, heritage tourism and visitor economy growth in England. She currently runs the Holidays business for the National Trust, having held senior leadership roles within the organisation for over 17 years. During this time, she has led national and regional visitor-facing operations, commercial strategy and large-scale investment programmes. Her current role oversees a nationally significant Holidays portfolio generating over £23 million in annual revenue, including 400 holiday cottages, 18 campsites and 600 staff, alongside brand partnerships and film and location activity. Across her National Trust career, she has delivered sustained growth, major visitor experience transformation, multiple award-winning performance and significant investment in sustainable development.
Rachel has held senior destination leadership roles at The Alnwick Garden and across the South West of England, supporting regional regeneration, partnership working and long-term destination development. She brings strong governance experience as a former Non-Executive Director of Visit Bath and Trustee of Bath Preservation Trust, and is committed to supporting sustainable, inclusive and high-quality tourism across England.
We look forward to welcoming Richard and Rachel to the VisitEngland Advisory Board. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to outgoing members Fiona Pollard and Allan Lambert for their commitment and dedication during their tenures.
