BTA hires global marketing chief
The British Tourist Authority (BTA) has appointed Keith Beecham, marketing manager at its Tokyo office, as global marketing services director.
Beecham takes up the authority’s top marketing position in March and will report to BTA chief executive Jeff Hamblin.
The BTA has an annual marketing budget of about &£30m and runs television, print and radio campaigns in 27 countries.
Beecham’s responsibilities will include setting a marketing strategy for BTA’s local offices. He replaces Jonathan Griffin, who left in October to work as a tourism marketing consultant to the British Council.
The BTA has also appointed its United Emirates marketing director Adrian Bevan to oversee marketing at a new unit it has set up to promote the UK as a sports destination.
Bevan took up his position this week and is reporting to Sandie Dawe, director of communications at BTA.
A BTA spokeswoman says the new sports unit is planning to run a marketing campaign in about 20 countries. This could include an advertising campaign in addition to a new Internet site, promotions and brochures, and would be tailored to each country, says the spokeswoman.
The BTA has set aside &£300,000 for the new unit and is looking to sign sponsorship deals with a range of organisations across British industry.
