Board Member Election 2023
One place is available on the TSE Board and two nominations have been received. Please take some time to read the brief summary for each candidate Voting will close 22nd September 2023. The successful candidate will be announced during our AGM 2023.
Julia White
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
I have 36 years’ experience working in the tourism industry and have had the privilege to have spent that time with the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. I have built strong relationships with partners in all industry sectors, locally, regionally and nationally and have created networks to enable business growth and achieve our strategic objectives.
Since 2002, in my role of Visitor Manager, we have achieved significant growth in both day and staying visitors. Together with my team we have raised awareness of the Royal Borough as a top destination brand using themes and itineraries to repackage an already successful day visit destination into a “must visit” short break location. Most recently I established the VisitWindsor Partnership, bringing together public and private sector partners to work together to develop the local visitor economy and drive sustainable growth.
I have enjoyed a strong relationship with Tourism South East throughout my career, taking advantage of so many of their excellent services, from training to research, and travel trade activity, both at home and overseas, to MICE marketing. I am so grateful to Fran and the team for all the support I’ve received over the years and feel the time is right to give my time and experience back to support the TSE Board. It has never been more important to pull together as a region, as the tourism landscape evolves. I believe that only through collaborative working can we continue to develop our incredible regional offer, help our businesses grow in a sustainable way, build resilience and drive more tourism investment into the South East.
Carolyn Abel
Head of Culture and Tourism - Southampton City Council
As Head of Culture and Tourism at Southampton City Council, I am passionate about creating thriving cultural destinations for all. For UK City of Culture 2025, I brought together the founding investment partners, setting the stage for Southampton’s bid and a key player in the bidding team including ensuring city-region collaboration and a tourism focus. I secured funding for and delivered Southampton’s Mayflower 400 city-wide programme as part of the national programme; developed a new Cultural Strategy and Festivals and Events Strategy, and Southampton’s first Destination Management Plan securing new resources and strategic stakeholder commitment. I am involved in regional VisitEngland LVEP discussions, Devolution and Local Enterprise Partnership transition, chair of Southampton’s Destination Partnership and on the new Renaissance Board which aligns public, private sector and major institutions around the growth agenda including the visitor economy. Alongside this I run a busy Cultural Service comprising museums, galleries, archives, libraries, city-wide events, nationally important heritage assets, £10m capital projects and three masterplan schemes.
I have worked in a variety of leadership roles across the UK (Newcastle, London, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Norwich) working with DMOs, DCMS, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Museums Association, Local Government Association, Key Cities, LEPs and place-based networks. Leading on major and touring exhibitions, large scale events including the Richard III reinternment and supporting place-marketing, regenerating visitor attractions and preserving and making accessible nationally important heritage assets and winning awards in Arts & Business, tourism and best practice approaches.
In terms of the TSE Board, as a collaborative leader, I would be delighted to support TSE’s growth by sharing my practical experience of place-shaping, operating visitor attractions, events, product and destination development alongside senior leadership experience in strategy, business planning, capacity building, multi-stakeholder management including politicians and experience in local government and charitable sector governance.