The Events Industry Board (EIB) has relaunched as the government bids to make the UK "the world's meeting place".
New members announced have been announced of the EIB, a working group of the Tourism Industry Council (TIC), which exists to support delivery of the UK Government’s Tourism Recovery Plan.
The Events Industry Board working group has been set up to provide a sounding board for the government on the best way to help grow the business events industry across the UK.
"The government wants to attract more business events to the UK, support our existing events to grow and discourage existing events from leaving, in order to achieve our ambition to make the UK the world’s meeting place," the website reads. "This working group brings together expertise and experience from across the business events sector and will encourage a spirit of collaboration between government and industry as we recover from the pandemic.
"The EIB Working Group (EIBWG) will focus on articulating how government and industry can deliver the objectives set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan. In particular, it will support the delivery of objective 6 of the Tourism Recovery Plan, by providing advice on how the UK can become a more competitive environment in order to attract, retain, grow and create events, and create a supportive environment for the sector to achieve long term growth."
The members of the EIB are:
Michael Hirst OBE - executive committee member of the Business Visits & Events Partnership
Nick Brooks-Sykes - director of tourism, Marketing Manchester
Claire Fennelow - executive director, EVCOM
Tracy Halliwell MBE - director of business tourism and major events - London and Partners
Jennifer Jenkins - board director, Worldspan plc
Darren Johnson - formerly chief executive of Reed Exhibitions UK
Kerrin MacPhie - CEO of the Meetings Industry Association
Kate Nicholls OBE - CEO of UKHospitality
Fay Sharpe OBE - founder, FastForward15
Chris Skeith OBE - director, Events Industry Alliance and chair of BVEP
Paul Thandi CBE - CEO, NEC Group
The EIBWG will also determine and offer suggestions to the Government on how the sector can support delivery of the Government’s wider aims and objectives.
Discussions by each working group will support the wider work of the TIC in delivering the Tourism Recovery Plan and identifying how the wider Visitor Economy can reach its full potential. This in turn will support the Inter-Ministerial Group on the Visitor Economy, set up to coordinate government interventions in support of the visitor economy.
Representatives from VisitBritain, VisitEngland, VisitScotland, VisitWales and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board will observe. Representatives from Government departments including DCMS, DIT and BEIS will attend.
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
