Vacancy -- Appointment of a Welsh Government Board Representative Board member - Visit Britain
Vacancy details
Remuneration is £320 per day plus T&S. Fees and expenses for attendance at approximately ten Welsh Government Tourism Management Board Meetings, plus T&S will be paid for by the Welsh Government.
Visit Britain Board Meetings will be held around six times per year (the member will be paid two days per meeting to allow for preparation) plus related T & S will be paid for by Visit Britain.
Function of body
Welsh Government
Tourism is major contributor to the Welsh economy. Total annual expenditure by tourists/visitors in Wales is some £6.3 billion. Wales attracts more than 10 million overnight visits annually. The current split is approximately 90% GB and 10% international visitors with expenditure split approximately 80% GB and 20% international.
Wales has seen successive annual increases in volume and expenditure by international visits since 2012 (2016 visits 1.07 million, spend £444 million). Nevertheless, increasing our share of all international visits to the UK remains a challenge with just under 3% of trips and 2% of spend in Wales. In terms of jobs 131,200 (10% of the Welsh workforce) are directly employed in Tourism. Overall, tourism contributes 5.7% of all Gross Value Added in the Welsh economy.
The Welsh Government’s Tourism Strategy (2013-2020) Partnership for Growth (https://gov.wales/topics/culture-tourism-sport/tourism/partnership-for-growth-strategy/?lang=en) sets out the Welsh Government’s aims for growing tourism in a sustainable way and to increase its contribution to the economic, social and environmental well-being of Wales. Its overall aim is to grow tourism earnings in Wales by 10% or more by 2020.
The wider policies and priorities of the Welsh Government are set out in - Prosperity for All , the Welsh Government’s Economic Action Plan, and the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015).
The Economic Action Plan identifies tourism as a Foundation Sector acknowledging the significant contribution tourism makes to the Welsh economy and sets out how Welsh Government will support tourism development through marketing, skills, facilities, delivering major events and providing quality tourism products.
UK Government
The Office for National Statistics estimates that tourism directly contributed over £62 billion to the UK economy in 2014, accounting for over 3% of the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA). In 2016, the Prime Minister launched the Tourism Action Plan through which the Government aims to grow the tourism industry further, and to spread the benefits of growth across the whole of Britain, by encouraging more visitors to travel beyond the capital.
About Visit Britain
Visit Britain (by statute formally the British Tourism Authority) has been in existence since the 1969 Development of Tourism Act. It aims to grow the value of tourism to Britain, working in partnership with the industry, nations and regions, and reports to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The Secretary of State’s priorities for Visit Britain are:
- The marketing of Britain overseas to drive growth in international leisure and business tourism;
- The maintenance of distinct activities to develop and market English tourism, primarily through implementation of the Discover England fund, and activity to support business visits and events for English destinations; and
- Support for the delivery of the Prime Minister’s Tourism Action Plan, published in August 2016.
- Visit Britain’s tourism strategy sets out what Britain can do to ensure that international tourism delivers the largest economic benefit possible and how marketing and policy objectives can be aligned. It aims to attract 40 million international visitors a year, spending £31.5 billion, by 2020. https://www.visitbritain.org/britain-tourism-strategy.
Role description
All Board Members are expected to contribute effectively to the overall work of the Board. The chief responsibilities of the Board Members will be to:
- Provide effective contribution to the Board and support to the Chair of the board as necessary.
- Assist the Chair to ensure that the policies and strategy of Visit Britain reflect and drive forward the UK Government’s strategy for tourism through the Tourism Action Plan, and deliver on the Management Agreement between DCMS and Visit Britain.
- Champion Britain overseas as a visitor destination and support effectiveness of Visit Britain’s network of 20 overseas offices.
- Ensure that Visit Britain works transparently and closely with Visit Wales.
- Ensure that Visit Britain maximises investment in tourism and the promotion of Britain (including promotional activities on behalf of Wales) overseas through partner engagement and commercial activity, ensuring such activity remains within the parameters of public sector spending.
- Achieve alignment and coordination across an extensive network of key stakeholders, particularly the national tourist boards, Destination Management Organisations, local government and Local Enterprise Partnerships (local authorities and businesses working together) tourism industry leaders and industry representative organisations.
- As required, attend the Welsh Government’s ‘Tourism Management Board’ meetings and provide feedback from the Visit Britain Board meetings.
Welsh language skills
Person specification
Candidates must be able to demonstrate:
- The ability to participate as part of a team of Board Members to achieve objectives and provide effective challenge and support to the organisation.
- Ability to demonstrate experience at senior/board level in international or domestic tourism or a related arena;
- The ability to build strong working relationships and command respect.
- An understanding of Wales’ competitive position internationally and the political context in which tourism operates; and
- Experience of digital, technology or marketing activities;
Welsh Language
Welsh Language Skills are considered as ‘desirable’ for all Board Member posts, at the level specified below:
- Understanding – Can understand basic conversations about everyday topics Reading – can read some basic words and phrases with understanding.
- Speaking – Can hold a basic conversation in Welsh.
- Writing - Can write basic messages on everyday topics.
- This means that it would be an advantage for applicants to understand basic conversations in Welsh and read and write some basic or simple material, if all other essential criteria has been met.
Interview dates
Closing date
Additional information
Terms of Appointment
The appointment will be made by the Welsh Government’s Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport on behalf of the Welsh Government. Appointments are usually made for a term of three years, and members may be re-appointed for one further three year term. Board Members’ performance is reviewed annually by the Chair.
Board Meetings
The Board meetings will be held in London and at the Chairman’s discretion, in Wales and Scotland. At present board meetings are held around six times a year. The Secretariat at Board meetings is provided by staff of Visit Britain. In addition the member will also be expected to attend approximately 10 Welsh Government’s Tourism & Marketing department’s Tourism Management Board meetings.
Eligibility
Applicants should be persons who conduct themselves at all times in a manner which will maintain public confidence.
In particular applicants are required to declare whether they are aware of anything in their private or professional life that would be an embarrassment to themselves or to the Welsh Government if it became known in the event of appointment.
Time Commitment
Members will be expected to be available to work approximately 22 days per year. This will include attendance at approximately six Visit Britain board meetings (two days per meeting to allow for preparation). In addition to this, the member will also be expected to attend approximately 10 Welsh Government’s Tourism & Marketing department’s Tourism Management Board meetings – one day per meeting.
Remuneration
Remuneration is £320 per day plus T&S. Fees and expenses for attendance at approximately ten Welsh Government Tourism Management Board Meetings, plus T&S will be paid for by the Welsh Government.
Visit Britain Board Meetings will be held around six times per year (the member will be paid two days per meeting to allow for preparation) plus related T & S will be paid for by Visit Britain.
Assistance for Disabled Members
Where appropriate all reasonable adjustments will be made to enable members to effectively carry out their duties.
Conflict of Interests
You will be asked to declare any private interests which may, or may be perceived to, conflict with the role and responsibilities as Board Member of Visit Britain including any business interests and positions of authority outside of the role in Visit Britain.
Any conflicts of interest will be explored at interview If appointed, you will also be required to declare these interests on a register which is available to the public.
Standards in public life
You will be expected to demonstrate high standards of corporate and personal conduct. All successful candidates will be asked to subscribe to the 7 principles of public life ().
Induction Training
Successful candidates may be required attend induction sessions within Welsh Government and Visit Britain.
How to apply
To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system. You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form. To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates. This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4. Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit. The second document is a full, up to date CV. The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.
In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities. We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years.
It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence. You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go. You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.
If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.
If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Unit on 03000 616095 or PublicAppointments@gov.wales.
This vacancy is closed to applications.