VisitEngland CEO Patricia Yates said:
“On behalf of the organisation we are delighted to extend our warmest congratulations to Nick on being honoured for his outstanding services to tourism through the past few challenging years, including his recent work leading the independent review of Destination Management Organisations in England.
“As VisitEngland Advisory Board Chair Nick has played a pivotal role steering the organisation through the Covid-19 pandemic, helping us to adjust our strategy and overseeing our priorities to support the industry through crisis to recovery and beyond.”
VisitEngland Advisory Board Chair Nick de Bois said:
“This is a huge honour which I was both delighted and surprised to receive notice of, more so as it comes as we mark the Queen’s Jubilee.”
“It is a privilege to work with England’s tourism industry as VisitEngland Chair and with the hundreds of thousands of outstanding businesses across the sector. The industry continues to be confronted by many challenges and my focus is to continue to work with our stakeholders, supporting the sector to recover and rebuild and to making the strongest possible case for tourism, one of our greatest industries.”
As Chair, Nick has overseen VisitEngland’s response to supporting the industry, from business advice and support, financial aid to sectors including Business Events, repurposing VisitEngland’s limited funding to support Destination Management Organisation’s and boosting domestic marketing to encourage us to get out and explore England. The ‘We’re Good To Go’ reassurance scheme also supported more than 28,000 businesses across England to welcome visitors back safely.
Nick has been Chair of the VisitEngland Advisory Board and a member of the British Tourist Authority Board since March 2020.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Nick de Bois was previously Member of Parliament for Enfield North from 2010 - 2015. Prior to his election he was founder and Managing Director of Rapiergroup, an international events and exhibitions management agency that he set up in 1988 delivering conferences, exhibitions and digital content for UK and International clients.
- In 2016, Nick was appointed Chairman of the UK Government's first UK Events Industry Board, bringing industry and government agencies together to advise on the implementation of the Business Events Strategy, launched in 2015. This strategy set about securing an increase of inbound international visitors by winning new international events hosted at UK destinations. In addition, the board advised on securing growth of international visitors to established domestic events.
