Press release -
Appointment of the Chair of the Board of VisitScotland
Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing today announced the appointment of John Thurso as the new Chair of the Board of VisitScotland.
Mr Ewing said:
“I am delighted to welcome John Thurso as the new Chair of VisitScotland and wish him well in his new post. Scottish tourism goes from strength to strength and I’m sure VisitScotland will benefit hugely from John’s experience and expertise in the industry to grow and develop Scotland’s visitor economy.”
John Thurso said of his appointment:
“Scotland is an iconic national brand with a world class tourist offering and VisitScotland does a great job promoting both. I look forward to joining the team where I hope the skills I have learnt in my hospitality career combined with my career in public service will make a useful contribution.”
Mike Cantlay, the outgoing Chairman of VisitScotland, said:
“I’m sure that John – like me – will relish every moment that he spends selling Scotland on the global stage. It really is the best job in the world and I’m confident that, with his vast experience and outstanding credentials, he will serve the Scottish tourism industry with distinction.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said:
“We are delighted to welcome John Thurso as the new Chair of VisitScotland. Our new Chair joins us at an exciting time for the organisation with the launch of our first ever global marketing campaign just last month.
“Tourism continues to go from strength to strength in Scotland and I’m sure John’s vast experience, in both the hospitality industry and public sector, will be a valuable asset for VisitScotland in the years ahead, as we continue to showcase our country as the perfect place to visit and invest in.”
Chair
John Thurso
Trained by The Savoy Company, John Thurso became Europe’s youngest 5 star hotel manager when appointed Managing Director of the Savoy Group’s Lancaster Hotel in Paris at 27. After five successful years in Paris he was then founder General Manager for Blakeney Hotels of Cliveden, which became the UK’s highest rated hotel under his leadership. From there he was appointed Chief Executive of Granfel Holdings – a small company with three hotels and the prestigious East Sussex National Golf Course owned by the Kuwaiti investment office which was in financial difficulties and which he turned from loss to profit. From 1995 to 2001, he was CEO of Fitness & Leisure Holdings whose main asset was Champneys Health Spa where he was the subject of the BBC documentary “Trouble at the Top – Shape up with Lord Thurso”
John has served as a non-executive on a number of public company boards including The Savoy PLC, Millenium and Copthorne PLC – where he was Deputy Chair and Walker Greenbank PLC which he chaired. He is also Chairman of his family company in Caithness and for many years owned The Ulbster Arms in Halkirk. In the past he has also Chaired a port (Scrabster) and sat on a number of charitable boards and was Grand Master of the Keepers of the Quaich of which he remains a patron. Currently he is Chair of the International Wine & Spirit Competition, a trustee of the Castle of Mey Trust and a board member of IPSA.
Having inherited his title on the death of his father in 1995, he sat in the House of Lords until 1999 and from 2001 to 2015 was MP for Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross. He served on the Treasury Select Committee and was a member of the Parliamentary Banking Standards Commission as well as being a Commissioner of the House of Commons and Chair of the House Finance Committee. He was awarded a “Catey” for services to Tourism 2003, was made an honourary DBA by Oxford Brookes in 2004 and is a Master Innholder and a Fellow of The Institute of Hospitality. He is President of the Tourism Society. In 2014 he was made a Privy Councillor by The Queen.
Appointment
The appointment is for three years from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2019.
The appointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £400 per day for a time commitment of seven days per month.
This appointment is regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
Other Ministerial Appointments
John Thurso is a Board Member of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which has the remit and powers to introduce independent regulation of MPs’ business costs, expenses, pay and pensions.
Political Declaration
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
John Thurso – Liberal Democrat
Background
VisitScotland is the lead Scottish Government Non-Departmental Public Body responsible for growing and developing Scotland’s visitor economy and for advising Ministers on policy. It has wide statutory powers to promote tourism and has a budget of around £50 million per annum. It is funded in part by the Scottish Government, and the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism makes appointments to the Board which currently has nine members including the Chair.
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the current 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
