9 October 2008
VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, today (9 October) announced the promotion of Patricia Yates to the position of Director, Strategy and Insights.
Her new remit, heading up a 13 strong team, will encompass the new policy remit for VisitBritain, corporate PR and industry communications, crisis communications and reputation management, research and insights and Government Affairs and advocacy. Strategy and Insights is a new division as part of the restructure of VisitBritain, its mission is to build the value of tourism to Britain by raising the profile of the visitor economy and acting as an interlocutor between industry and government.
Formerly Head of Press and PR for VisitBritain, Yates previously worked atWhich? where she edited Holiday Which? magazine - establishing it as a top selling consumer travel title. She was responsible for scoping and delivering all of the Which? output in the travel and transport areas, producing Which? PR campaigns andled on developing and influencing change on many of the consumer-related policy and strategy issues which now form part of VisitBritain’s policy agenda.
Tom Wright, chief executive at VisitBritain said:
“In the three years that Patricia has been with VisitBritain she has contributed massively to the high regard with which the Press & PR function is held, shaping our communications positioning on the big issues and leading the international PR effort which achieved £3bn worth of destination coverage last year alone. As we move into ever more challenging times for tourism, I am confident that Patricia’s leadership in the Strategy and Insights arena will prove invaluable.”
Sandie Dawe, previously Strategy and Communications Director, will take up a new directorship role at VisitBritain, focused entirely on leading and delivering VisitBritain’s strategy to maximise the tourism benefits of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Working closely with Visit London, she will create joint action plans to ensure maximum benefits to both London and Britain.
The appointments will be effective from the start of November.
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For more information, please contact:
SianBrenchley, Senior Press Officer on 0208563 3220 or 07971 497047
Notes to Editors
- VisitBritain is responsible for promoting Britain as a world class tourist destination and for developing England’s visitor economy. It has representatives in 36 countries around the world and, in the last three years, has expanded into China, throughout Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, and increased its presence in India with representatives in Bangalore and Mumbai.
- Provisional figures for 2007 indicate there were 32.6 million visits to Britain, -0.5% down on 2006. They spent £16.0 billion in the UK: a -0.3% decrease on 2006.
- VisitBritain’s international website, www.visitbritain.com, was awarded World’s Leading Tourism Authority Internet Site for the fourth year in a row at the 2007 World Travel Awards by more than 200,000 travel and tourism professionals. With information provided in 26 different languages, every year over 12 million visits are made by international consumers to the 46 websites that make up visitbritain.com.