8. What happening in the region including Bath and Bristol with Head of Tourism Kathryn Davis – Visit West

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In today’s episode, I chat with Kathryn Davis, Director of Tourism, Visit West and non-Exec Board member of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and UKinbound.

Kathryn is a fount of all knowledge when it comes to tourism, leisure and hospitality in the west, having worked in the industry for more than 25 years. In 2018, Kathryn was presented with the award for Outstanding Achievement in Tourism at the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards.

In our chat, Kathryn shares how the Destination Marketing Organisations, Bath Tourism Plus and Destination Bristol were amalgamated to form Visit West and how it works today. She talks about some of the benefits of bringing the two cities together along with North and North East Somerset, and how the work they are doing is proving so popular that they are seeing a record intake of businesses joining their membership.
We talk about marketing and the forthcoming VisitEngland grant funded campaign 'Escape the Everyday', along with the growth in interest in the digital platforms that promote the region, with Visit Bristol seeing around 3.7 million visitors to the site each year.

We also discuss:

• How COVID has created a culture of last minute bookings in the conference, meetings and events arena and the recovery of international visitors;
• How we need to reframe the way in which we talk about careers in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Enjoy the episode!

Find out more
If you’re interested in learning more about Visit West, then head to www.visitwest.co.uk.

To connect with Kathryn, you can find her on:

• Twitter: twitter.com/kathryn_tourism
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kathryndavisbristol

Find out more about the marketing strategy and mentoring services with the Visitor Elves.
This episode is sponsored by Hello Starling.

Hello Starling, is an award-winning Media Planning and Buying agency that specialises in delivering advertising campaigns with great results for visitor attractions and destinations.
They've worked with brands such as Bristol Zoo Project, Visit Shropshire, Visit Conwy, Visit Herefordshire and the National Tourism Office for Poland. If you want to be the centre of attention, visit hellostarling.com today.
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