World Tourism Association for Culture and Heritage announces new Chief Executive

Nigel Fell, the former Chief Commercial Officer of the World Tourism Association for Culture and Heritage (WTACH has been promoted to President and Chief Executive effective immediately.

The WTACH Advisory Board approved the promotion, proposed by former Chief Executive Chris Flynn, on 26th October. Flynn will assume the position of Executive Chairman of WTACH.

Flynn advised “the promotion to CEO is a move that Nigel fully deserves following his outstanding work to navigate the Association through the difficult times of the pandemic.”

The move will give WTACH two top line executive officers, Fell and Flynn, who can drive the Association’s agenda in diverse geographical regions of the world. Fell is located in Europe. Flynn in Australia.

Flynn said the new internal arrangement would help WTACH better serve its growing global membership base. It would also make it easier for WTACH to fulfil increasing engagement requests and commitments on behalf of destinations and tourism stakeholders.

WTACH has reported a significant surge in enquiries and engagement requests since the recent easing of travel restrictions around the world.

Flynn added “Destinations are understandably now seeking to grow their visitor economies more responsibly through enhanced conservation and preservation of their unique cultural heritage assets.”

Fell said that WTACH is “ready” as it has developed robust policy and procedure protocols and training modules to help governments and industry better manage their cultural and heritage tourism (CHT) assets, experiences and delivery.

“Through WTACH's development of responsible and sustainable tourism practices, the Association has created a unique platform where it can make a genuinely positive impact on how a new era of tourism is planned, delivered and consumed.”

Fell’s first engagement as President and Chief Executive will be at the QATAR Travel Mart and Conference in Doha 16th-18th November. While at QTM as President and Chief Executive, Fell will make two keynote presentations and join panel discussions.

Further information: WTACH.org.

Image: Chris Flynn (L) and Nigel Fell WTACH