APPENDIX 35
Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Deputy Chairman, The Ritz, London
I have read that the Select Committee on Culture,
Media and Sport is currently looking to appoint a new Chairman
of the BTA to take office in 2003. It is certainly a very important
appointment and one, which all members of the hotel and tourist
industry will view with great interest.
Sir Alexander Glen, who was the first chairman
of the BTA and who is still going strong, was in my view, the
best chairman there has been. Although appointed for only a few
days a week, he gave the job unstinting support and promoted this
country overseas to the best of his ability. I hope that the new
chairman of the BTA will be appointed for seven days each week;
it really isn't a job suited to a part-timer.
Tourism to this country is a major earner of
foreign exchange and a major employer of labour. We have to compete
with many European countries most of whom spend very much more
money on their tourist authority than we do.
I sometimes feel that the BTA has become too
interested in the number of visitors rather than the quality of
spending power of those visitors. We need to improve the number
of up-market leisure tourists who spend a number of days in London
and the countryside and also spend a reasonable sum of money whilst
in the UK.
I would make a plea that the Chairman should
be a full time appointment, someone who really feels committed
to representing this country abroad and someone who is not afraid
to take the stage to promote the attraction of this country above
all others.
31 October 2002
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