5 UK travel and tourism thought leaders to engage with on Twitter
The “travel day of action” on Wednesday 23 June was an uplifting sight. Regardless of how much the events influence the UK government’s next moves in supporting international travel and the thousands of tourism businesses left on the brink by the pandemic, the protests were a show of unity among the UK travel industry.
Inspired by the protests, we’ve compiled a list of some of the people driving the organisations and movements that affect everyone in tourism and the visitor attractions sector, from sustainability and racial diversity to policy.
If you want to be the first to hear the news and give your visitor attraction’s voice a greater chance of being heard, start engaging with these 5 industry thought leaders and influencers.
Tourism policy: Timothy Jenkins
VisitBritain’s policy and public affairs manager Timothy Jenkins is currently on secondment as Senior Policy Advisor, International Tourism at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), meaning he’s got a foot in both camps. He had a hand in DCMS’s Tourism Recovery Plan, and is very much about a “soft power” approach to international relations. Read his article ‘Backing tourism is a vital part of building Global Britain’ – published in August 2020 but still thought-provoking – and follow @tgjenkins on Twitter, where he tweets about tourism, public diplomacy and foreign policy.
Racial diversity in tourism: Jamie-Lee Abtar
Jamie-Lee Abtar is an experienced tourism marketing and business development consultant but it’s her work around understanding issues of racial diversity that really makes her stand out; she’s worked with some of the travel industry’s leading brands. She’s a powerful speaker on the diversification of travel marketing and is associate director of the BAME Women in Travel CIC initiative, which supports Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women in the travel and tourism industry to fulfill their potential. Read her Forbes interview and find her @iamjamielee246 on Twitter.
On-the-ground VA insights: Rachel Mackay
Manager of the Historic Royal Palaces at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Rachel Mackay has carved out a niche for herself at the go-to person for VA recovery. Her Recovery Room resource shares research around crisis management in the pandemic for museums and heritage organisations; she’s even been nominated in the Covid Special Recognition category of the Museums and Heritage 2021 Awards. Follow her @rachmackay on Twitter for character-filled thoughts and insights about local, national and international visitor experience issues and themes.
Sustainable tourism: Juliet Kinsman
When sustainable luxury travel expert Juliet Kinsman first started making her opinions known, she was the founding editor of Mr & Mrs. Smith. Now she’s Condé Naste’s first-ever sustainability editor and helps award-winning brands stand out with a strong sustainability spirit. Watch her TEDx Talk ‘How to make better choices for positive impact’ and follow @JulietKinsman on Twitter.
UK travel news: Tracey Edginton
You could follow @VisitBritainBiz and @VisitEnglandBiz for the latest news and updates on UK’s and England’s visitor economy, or you could follow Tracey Edginton. VisitBritain/VisitEngland’s head of press is a prolific retweeter of all the key news and highlights from the national tourist boards, and she throws in the latest news snippets from a variety of news organisations and other people in the know. Follow her @T_Edginton on Twitter.
