Tourist council not so wealthy

Your article “English Tourist Council (ETC) poaches chief from British Tourist Authority (BTA)” (MW February 17) is so full of errors I hardly know where to begin.

Yes, ETC’s new chief executive Mary Lynch (who has replaced Tim Bartlett) is to join from BTA (on April 3, not March l, as you said). No, ETC doesn’t have &£10m to spend on marketing.

The &£10m is our Government grant to support the development and competitiveness of the industry in England, and more than half of that goes straight to the regional tourist boards to implement grass-roots projects on the industry’s behalf.

And, no, we’ve never been under the “umbrella organisation of the BTA”. The BTA does its own thing, marketing Britain abroad. We – previously as the English Tourist Board and now as the new English Tourism Council – look after the business at home.

Shurely shome mistakes here, Ed?

Robyn Griffith-Jones

Director of communications

English Tourism Council

London W6