Barbados Tourism UK Director Has A New Post At HQ
Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) new appointments mean the London office will lose its UK Director, Cheryl Carter.
The Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Ian Gooding-Edghill, announced the changes at a press conference at BTMI headquarters on Wednesday 24th January.
Cheryl Carter will be the Chief Operations Officer(COO) working with the new Chief Executive Officer CEO, longstanding tourism professional Ms Andrea Franklin. The selection of Ms Franklin to lead BTMI came after an extensive recruitment process aimed at finding a leader who could effectively leverage the unique characteristics of Barbados.
Both appointees will take up their positions starting 1st April 2024.
This new role will include proper succession planning and the streamlining of BTMI’s operations so that the CEO can focus on the strategic direction of the new entity. The COO will also be responsible for the leadership and performance of all external markets.
As interim head of global markets in the UK in 2019, Ms Carter achieved the highest arrivals for Barbados from its primary source market. In addition, she has cultivated professional relationships with airline travel and tourism partners over the years who value her leadership and direction. Additionally, she also led teams in Canada and North America during her tenure as a director.
Carter’s appointment comes just after her office was recently awarded the ‘Best Tourist Board’ at the Globe Travel Awards 2024 hosted by Travel Weekly. The Globe Travel Awards, recognised as the Oscars of the travel industry, have allowed travel sellers to acknowledge and reward their favoured suppliers for more than 45 years. The winners were voted for exclusively by thousands of travel agents nationally, further testimony to all that the BTMI do to support the UK travel trade industry.
Barbados was the only country from the Caribbean and one of 10 shortlisted in the category. Receiving the award is a momentous milestone for BTMI, reflecting the team’s hard work, creativity and passion.
Minister Gooding-Edghill said.” the two appointments should be seen as “one part of my ministry’s policy to be responsive to the dynamic needs of the tourism sector by taking strategic steps to refresh, reposition, redirect and renew how we do business.”