Associates

Services

At Tourism UK we believe that every job is different and to achieve the best result requires exactly the right skills. Consequently we have a great network of associates who specialise in all areas of the Tourism and Leisure sector.

Tom Buncle

Managing Director of Yellow Railroad International Destination Consultancy. He has over30 years’ senior leadership experience in tourism marketing, branding, strategy and policy development on four continents (UK/Europe, N America, Asia, Africa). Prior to establishing Yellow Railroad he spent 4 years as Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourist Board (now VisitScotland). Before that he was International Marketing Director at the Scottish Tourist Board and ran British Tourist Authority (BTA – now VisitBritain) operations in Southeast Asia , Norway and California .

He has led consultancy projects for destinations in the UK, Europe, Caribbean(I guess that accounts for the tan) and Africa, focusing on: destination branding (Namibia, Kenya, Cameroon, Bosnia, England, Scotland); place-shaping (Bristol, Chester); business strategy and marketing strategy (Gabon, England, Wales, Lithuania, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Commonwealth Games); eco/pro-poor tourism strategy (Gabon, Namibia); national tourism policy development (Namibia); organisational change and capacity-building (Dominica, Namibia, Gabon); crisis recovery (England after Foot & Mouth Disease, Britain after 9/11). He was an adviser to the UK Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on the European Capital of Culture 2008 award. He has recently produced a definitive Handbook on Tourism Destination Branding for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWT) and the European Travel Commission (ETC). I am exhausted just listing these!

Finella Devitt

Her professional experience has been gained at Chief Executive and Director level, with previous roles in Scotland as Chief Executive of House for an Art Lover, a £6m arts attraction in Glasgow and Chief Executive of Loch Lomond Shores, a £60m tourism and retail development in Dunbartonshire. Prior to this, she was responsible for marketing one of Europe’s top fine paper brands with multinational company Arjo Wiggins Fine Papers where she managed an annual marketing budget exceeding £1m. She was also Director of North of Scotland European Partnership where she attracted significant funds from Brussels for Scottish organisations. Finella brings:

· creative flair and a passion for quality
· Strong business development skills with track record in revenue generation
· An intuitive approach with commercial acumen
· Excellent interpersonal and people-management skills
· The ability to inspire, motivate and negotiate

or so she tells me! Finella has her own practice which can be found at www.iridescence-consulting.co.uk

Richard Spencer

Richard is a chartered town planner and registered national business advisor with wide ranging Director level experience in both the public and private sectors in tourism and hospitality, marketing, economic development, planning and regeneration, business support and general management. No picture yet, so you will just have to imagine what he looks like.. no try again, this time a little less George Cluny ....