BTA hunts two marketers following Government decision to close ETC

The British Tourist Authority (BTA) is searching for two marketing chiefs following the decision by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to close down the English Tourism Council (ETC) and transfer its functions to a new department within the BTA.

The BTA now has the remit for promoting England to the domestic market and will appoint a separate head of marketing reporting to BTA chief executive Tom Wright. BTA’s marketing director position has been vacant since Keith Beecham moved to take a post within the BTA in Japan (MW June 13).

A BTA spokeswoman says: “The England department will have a separate marketing function, with a head reporting direct to the chief executive. We will start the recruitment process for this shortly.”

The BTA will change its name as part of the restructure and expects to relaunch by April 1 next year. The spokeswoman adds that by then the department with responsibility for marketing England will have “appropriate agency support”. The ETC does not have a marketing function.

The BTA developed this year’s overseas “Only In Britain Only in 2002” advertising campaign with private partners. BTA’s Wright says: “There will be a joint partner campaign for 2003, which we are developing with private sector partners. It is likely to focus on shorter breaks and we will continue our normal local campaigns as always.”

The shake-up of tourism bodies was announced by the DCMS last week, and &£10m has been released for marketing England domestically over three years.