New Visit East Midlands advisory board to help drive growth in the region’s visitor economy

Visit East Midlands Advisory Board to support new plans to help grow visitor spend, overnight stays and jobs across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 

The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) has approved the creation of the advisory board to spearhead Visit East Midlands. 

The new board of independent sector leaders will provide strategic, independent advice to support the region’s ambition to attract more tourists, encourage longer stays, increase visitor spend and grow the visitor economy. This will help deliver the East Midlands Growth Plan ambition of an additional £1 billion in gross value added over the next decade. 

The board will advise on detailed plans and investment for the regional visitor economy which are due to presented at the EMCCA board in July. It forms part of a wider programme of work to strengthen EMCCA’s leadership across priority sectors and put in place the right support to deliver long-term growth. 

Growth sector

The visitor economy is one of the East Midlands’ priority growth sectors. The region welcomes about 76 million visitors each year, including 7.3m overnight stays, and is home to a wealth of internationally recognised cultural, heritage, sporting and natural assets. 

These include the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, Nottingham’s UNESCO City of Literature status, Derby’s City of Learning status, the UK’s first National Park, elite sports venues in the Trent Sports District, and a growing business tourism offer in our cities. 

The region is well placed to build on its strengths by attracting more higher-value stays, encouraging more overnight trips and spreading the benefits of tourism across more places and throughout the year. 

Creation of Visit East Midlands

Visit East Midlands has been created to help unlock that potential by bringing partners together behind a shared regional ambition.  

It will support the sector to grow, showcase the region to more domestic and international audiences, build a stronger and more distinctive identity, and encourage people to stay longer, spend more and discover more of what Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have to offer. 

Its role is to bring expert insight and challenge, helping shape the strategic direction of Visit East Midlands and supporting a joined-up approach across the sector. It will sit alongside the Strategic Partnership Board which includes the region’s two local visitor economy partnerships, and a regional network as part of a wider governance model designed to separate strategy, delivery and engagement.

Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward said: “I’m delighted to announce the members of the advisory board for Visit East Midlands. I’m so pleased that we have such a high-calibre group of people bringing their expertise, insight and passion to this priority work. As chair, I can’t wait to start working with them to champion and grow our visitor economy. 

“There are so many exciting opportunities ahead for the visitor economy in our region. This group coming together is just the start, we expect to add even more talent to the board further over the coming year.” 

Visit East Midlands Board members 

The board which currently has nine members, is chaired by Mayor Claire, with plans to grow membership to 15 over time. Members bring experience from tourism, culture, hospitality, sport, transport, heritage and higher education. 

• Jane Marriott – Director of Chatsworth House Trust, bringing major attraction leadership and experience of creating world-class visitor experiences; 
• Richard Johal – Business and hospitality leader with strong connections across Nottingham’s leisure, events and city centre economy; 
• Stephanie Sirr MBE – Chief executive of Nottingham Playhouse and a nationally recognised leader in arts, culture and skills; 
• Ross Owen – Hospitality manager at Welbeck Estates Company with international tourism and travel trade experience; 
• Richard Kenyon – Chief executive of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, with expertise in sport, events, commercial growth and regeneration; 
• Barry Lewis – Founder of Amber Valley Vineyards, offering experience in rural tourism, enterprise and regional policy; 
• Prof Kath Mitchell CBE DL – Vice-chancellor and chief executive of the University of Derby, bringing expertise in skills, talent and civic leadership; 
• Adam Andrews – Chief commercial officer at East Midlands Airport, with experience in transport, inbound markets and route development; 
• Tony Butler – Executive director of Derby Museums, known for culture-led regeneration and heritage innovation. 

The board will help ensure Visit East Midlands is supported by strong regional leadership as it begins its work this summer to raise the profile of the region, attract more people and help the region secure more high-value, year-round tourism growth.