Black Country Living Museum chief to chair new West Midlands tourism board
The chief executive of the Black Country Living Museum has been hand-picked to chair a new tourism board with the mission of improving visitor numbers to the West Midlands.
The new West Midlands Tourism and Hospitality Advisory Board will include members of the tourism and hospitality industry and will advise West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.
The new board will replace and build on the work of the West Midlands Regional Board for Tourism, which was set up in 2020.
The board will be chaired by Andrew Lovett, chief executive of the Black Country Living Museum, who has 30 years of leadership experience working across the museums, leisure, tourism, arts, heritage and protected landscape sectors.
Andrew Lovett said: "We have launched the search for enthusiastic, knowledgeable and committed team players to join our new West Midlands Tourism & Hospitality Advisory Board, who can successfully represent the geography, diversity and inclusivity of our region’s magnificently varied and unique visitor economy.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for people who want to make a difference, are passionate about tourism and hospitality and are leaders in their visitor-facing fields, whether it’s accommodation, food and drink, transport, events, performance, entertainment or attractions."
He added: "In 2022, the West Midlands has been in the global spotlight like never before. We want to build a new board, which keeps the region in its rightful place at the forefront of the national and international visitor economy landscape.”
During the past 12 months, the West Midlands’ tourism and hospitality sectors have played host to the most popular UK-based Commonwealth Games, with more than 1.5 million tickets sold, five million people visiting Birmingham city centre over the Games fortnight and hotels enjoying record August occupancy of 87 per cent.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: "Hospitality is a real strong suit for us here in the West Midlands. The sector has the potential to be a major growth area and job creator in our region in the coming months and years – despite the many pressures and challenges we’re facing.
"Introducing a West Midlands Tourism & Hospitality Advisory Board will help us to double down on our natural strengths, draw on our wealth of local expertise and work together to tackle the challenges facing the industry."
The deadline to apply to be part of the new West Midlands Tourism and Hospitality Advisory Board is Monday, October 3.
