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Hannah Beacom has been appointed as the island's first Chair of the Tourism Management Board.
The Committee for Economic Development announced the decision at the end of the last week following a competitive selection process which saw 14 individuals apply for the role.
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 is the Island Coachways Managing Director and a member of the Guernsey Tourism Partnership. She will lead the board which will provide the industry a route to provide input into the development of the sector, including the much anticipated Tourism Strategy.
She said the board will help to ensure industry experts are driving the industry forward.
"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," Ms Beacom said.
"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."
Pictured: The Committee for Economic Development have political responsibility for the toursim sector.
Deputy Neil Inder, President of Economic Development, said Ms Beacom was a strong and impressive candidate with a "clear and holistic approach to tourism".
"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."
Economic Development came under fire from hotel bosses when they announced the creation of the Board late last year. Members of the Guernsey Hospitality Association queried why a strategy had yet to be developed and whether this extra step could delay matters further.
Pictured (top): Hannah Beacom.
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