By Meetings and Incentive Travel - The government has started to form its industry representative board that will help shape the future of the business, visits and events sector.
Invitations to sit on the board have been sent to key industry figures, by minister of tourism Tracey Crouch MP. The board is being formed as part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Business Visits and Events Strategy report which was launched in March.
A key recommendation in the report was the creation of a body to represent the industry within government.
In her invitation, Crouch said: “As Minister for Tourism I endorse this strategy and will now begin to enact it. We see this board as making steps forward for the industry and in industry/government relations.”
Following engagement with the industry in 2014, key DCMS recommendations include: support to attract more large-scale global trade fairs to the UK; ministerial support for ‘tier 1’ large-scale events; a focus on removing barriers, such a visa issues, for ‘tier 2’ events; and raising awareness of the economic benefit of ‘tier 3’ events.
It is proposed that the board will report to the Ministerial GREAT Programme Board and will comprise membership from the business visits and events industry, relevant government departments, VisitBritain, UK trade & Investment (UKTI), VisitScotland, Visit Wales, Tourism Northern Ireland and VisitEngland. The board will identify a priority list of business visits and events, along with appropriate actions for bidding, and will assess requests for ministerial support from the UK regions. The Home Office will discuss special arrangements at ports of entry, and produce UK visa ‘mythbusting’ advice.
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