The South West Tourism Alliance is being managed by a team of industry professionals. They are founder members of the Alliance and have taken on key roles to shape the future of the Alliance.
Jamie is the Managing Director of Exeter International Airport, having joined in 2007 as Commercial Director before becoming Deputy Managing Director. He worked for Manchester Airports Group for three years before relocating to the South West.
A graduate from Leicester University, Jamie spent a career in food and department store retail management across the UK before moving into airport management. Jamie joined Exeter Airport during its purchase by Balfour Beatty and has led the airport team through a period of transition. Aspiring to be the South West's airport of choice, Jamie has developed the airport's choice of routes, airlines and tour operators to encourage both outbound and inbound tourism. He has also overseen ambitious improvements in infrastructure as the Exeter airport site grows. Jamie sees safety, sustainability, great customer service and convenience as the watch words of the airport's future success. Jamie is a member of the Institute of Directors and a trustee for whitley wildlife conservation trust. He lives on Dartmoor.
BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS LEADDuncan is a chartered accountant, joined the regional newspaper industry in 1975 and has been managing director of various UK regional newspaper centres since 1987. In 2001 Duncan moved to Devon to become regional managing director of South West Media Group Ltd (formally Westcountry Publications Ltd), publisher of a number of titles and associated web sites including the Western Morning News, The Herald (Plymouth), the Express and Echo (Exeter), and the Herald Express (Torquay). He was appointed deputy chairman in 2010 and is now a consultant to parent company Northcliffe Media Ltd.
Duncan was also appointed founder Chairman of Plymouth City Centre Company, since when it has been held up as a national exemplar of delivering city centre improvements through Business Improvement Districts. In 2010 Duncan was appointed Chairman of Destination Plymouth Ltd, a strategic place management company aiming to substantially develop the tourism market and add over 7000 jobs to the city's tourism industry.
Duncan became a governor of the University of Plymouth in 2007, now chairing its audit committee. He is also the chairman of Destination Devon (trading as Visit Devon) and is a director of Plymouth 2020, charged with developing Plymouth's vision, overall growth and strategic direction.
Alistair and his wife own Higher Wiscombe, a green five star self catering business in East Devon which won the EnjoyEngland Excellence award in 2007/8. He is Chairman of Premier Cottages, a national membership group of four and five star cottages, represents the South West on the CLA Business and Rural Economy Committee where he is ‘Tourism Advocate'. He is a committee member of The English Association of Self Caterers, a director of the Devon Environmental Business Initiative and was the final Chair at South West Tourism.
Alistair works as a consultant on business development, funding and turnaround. His earlier career was in the IT sector where he was a founder of Software Ltd, eventually selling to global leader Ingram Micro. He stayed on to expand the company into Europe before setting up his own business in 2000.
Andy is Head of Research and Evaluation for the Eden Project. He has more than a decade of research experience and a proven track record for measuring social and economic impacts of cultural and heritage projects.
With a background in social sciences and applied econometric research, Andy's expertise has helped business development at attractions and events across the South West. These include Eden (since joining the team in 2001), Tate St Ives, St Michaels Mount, many smaller museums (Plymouth, Reading, Exeter and Restormel Museums) and some overseas projects.
Andy took a first degree in (cultural) Heritage and Landscape followed by a Masters in Heritage Management. He is an associate researcher at South West Tourism, an Honorary Fellow at the University of Exeter and has been a committee member of the Visitor Studies Group of England. Currently, Andy is a board member of the English Tourism Intelligence Partnership (ETIP), an alliance between the Office of National Statistics and Visit England. Andy also chairs South West Tourism Transition Management Research Sub Group which aims to ensure core research and historical records remain accessible for the region's tourism businesses.
Mary has both public and private sector experience in tourism having worked for British Airways, Thomson Holidays, the British Tourist Authority, and latterly as Chief Executive of the English Tourism Council. She has been responsible for innovative destination marketing campaigns in the UK and overseas. She also has a very broad knowledge of tourism development having worked closely with government to develop and implement tourism policy.
At the English Tourism Council she led the industry's response to several crises including the impact of foot and mouth disease, terrorist attacks including 9/11, the Gulf War and SARS. She is the author of ‘Weathering the Storm', a guide to crisis management for the tourism industry. She has designed support material for businesses on contingency planning and has run many events designed to help companies anticipate and respond to the unexpected.
Mary now runs her own consultancy business (Mary Lynch Associates Ltd) specialising in tourism development. She is also Chair of Bath Tourism Plus - a successful destination marketing organisation and sits on the board of Future Bath Plus, managing the successful development of Bath and North East Somerset as a major tourist destination.
Before becoming Executive Director of South West Food and Drink, Christine spent 35 years working in the food and drink hospitality sector for publicly funded enterprises [including the University of Bangor and the London Education Authority], the MOD in Scotland and hotel management in London. Christine is a classically trained chef and spent 21 years successfully owning and running a restaurant and hotel in the North West. Joining SWFD in 2003 allowed Christine to move back to her South West roots while continuing her work within the local food and drink industry. Christine has always believed Tourism and Food and Drink go hand in hand and she is keen to develop that relationship further as the industry in the South West moves forward.
Jeremy is a qualified solicitor and former Chief Executive of Eldridge Pope, a Dorchester-based brewer and pub-retailer. Having retired from Eldridge Pope in 1999, he has held a number of appointments in both public and private sectors. These include being Deputy Chairman of the South West of England Regional Development Agency and a member of Sir Don Curry's Sustainable Farming and Food Industry Group.
Jeremy has chaired a number of companies in the private sector, including Milk Link and English Farming and Food Partnerships, where he remains on the Board. He is a Director and the Vice-Chairman of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.
Jeremy is also Chairman of Destination Dorset and of the Spirit of the Sea Festival in Weymouth and Portland. He is Deputy Chairman of the Dorset Olympic Board and serves on several working parties for the Cultural Olympiad. He is a Trustee of the Jurassic Coast Trust, the Chesil Trust, the Bovington Tank Museum and Springboard.
A professional marketeer, Mark has worked in both public and private sectors of the travel and tourism industry for over 30 years. Having had management training with British Airways, Mark has worked around the world for the company on new route and hotel development - including Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
Mark has managed tourism for Winchester City Council, Eastbourne Borough Council and, since 2002, Bournemouth Borough Council. In Bournemouth, he has driven major developments such as the model Tourism Planning Guidance, the innovative Bournemouth Tourism Management Board and the world's largest free air event, The Bournemouth Air Festival.
Leslie is Director of the charity Sustainability South West, the region's independent champion for sustainability, offering sustainability guidance, leadership and project management.
Previously, Leslie managed major environmental improvement projects with West Midlands County Council. She was Director of the national charity ‘Think Green', a campaign for green urban improvements; Community Relations Manager at the Bristol Development Corporation; Sustainability Manager for West Wiltshire District Council and Manager of the Wessex Environment Business Club.
Leslie was also the first chair of the ‘Local Sustainability Group for the South West', a network of sustainability practitioners, and a member of East Midlands Electricity's first environmental panel.
Leslie is a founder Board Member of Regen SW, the region's sustainable energy agency, and has a particular interest in leadership within the area of sustainable development.
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