Friday 13 January 2023
The Committee for Economic Development has appointed Hannah Beacom as the Chair of the new Tourism Management Board.
Ms Beacom, Island Coachways Managing Director and member of the Guernsey Tourism Partnership, was appointed following a competitive recruitment process in which 14 people applied and five were shortlisted for interview.
The Tourism Management Board is designed to work in partnership with the industry, as the make-up of the board will be primarily trade stakeholders, including hospitality, travel, transport and events representatives. A member of the Committee for Economic Development and the States' Director of Communications and Marketing will also sit on the board.
Ms Beacom will lead the board, which will provide the industry a route to provide true strategic input into the development of the sector. This will include the development of a new Tourism Strategy.
Deputy Neil Inder, President of the Committee for Economic Development, said:
'The interview panel were impressed with the quality of applicants and their presentations, however Hannah stood out for her clear and holistic approach to tourism, which is a diverse industry with many stakeholders of differing views. Hannah was very impressive and will, as Chair of the new Tourism Management Board, provide strong leadership for the board as it works at a strategic level to further the development of the industry.
'Our Committee has been quite clear from the beginning of this States term that we were not only willing to explore, but were indeed in favour of, a model for the governance of the tourism sector that is based upon greater public and private sector partnership. The Committee has agreed upon a model that introduces the strategic input of a Tourism Management Board made up of industry stakeholders with an independent Chair.
'The Committee has been, and continues to be, unwavering in support for the industry and we look forward to seeing how the new Tourism Management Board develops under Hannah's leadership.'
Ms Beacom said:
'I am delighted to be appointed as Chair of the new Tourism Management Board. The success of the board will be strongly linked to ensuring we have dynamic, forward-thinking industry experts around the table representing a cross-section of our diverse sector. Finding the right people to sit on the board will be my initial priority before we collectively focus on data collection to inform a post Covid-19 strategy to drive the industry forward.
'I'm a member of the Guernsey Tourism Partnership and the view of its membership is that our industry is much stronger when we work together collaboratively and the new board presents a fantastic opportunity for a range of stakeholders to contribute to the development of tourism at a strategic level.'
