SWTA COMMITTEE
Message from the SWTA Chair
“Every Member of the Committee at the South West Tourism Alliance is a volunteer. They are not paid. They contribute because the health and wealth of the South West visitor economy is critical to the overall health and wealth of the region. We all love this region and live and work here.
As Chair it is a huge benefit to have such a wide spread of talent to call upon, and I thank them for their tireless contributions.“
Alistair Handyside
Chair
Alistair Handyside MBE Chair
Alistair owns the award winning Higher Wiscombe holiday cottages in East Devon with his wife Lorna.
Alistair was instrumental in the establishment of the SW Tourism Alliance post the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies and with the the Regional Tourist Boards. He believed that a unified voice for the South West was critical when lobbying for the region.
Alistair also set up PASC UK, the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK, to support and provide advocacy for the sector in England and Wales. Established in 2017, PASC UK is now the largest association for the sector in the UK.
He is also the Co-Chair of the Great South West Tourism Partnership.
Alistair has previously held roles as the Chairman of the South West Coast Path, Past Chair of Premier Cottages, and is currently a Council Member at the Tourism Alliance, and a director at the Wales Tourism Alliance. He was Chair of the East Devon AONB/National Landscape until March 2024 and was awarded an MBE in the June 2018 Queens Honours list for voluntary services to tourism in the South West.
E-mail: chair@pascuk.co.uk
Amanda Lumley
Amanda Lumley is Chief Executive of Destination Plymouth. She has a wealth of experience in tourism from leading UK national attractions such as Chester Zoo and Leeds Castle, to regional tourism partnerships Visit Essex, Visit Kent and most recently Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City where she was involved in the Mayflower 400 programme for over 9 years.
As well as being the voice of the city’s visitor economy, she leads on the city’s brand strategy, Visitor Plan, marketing and digital strategy, events, major development projects, public space and place making.
Amanda is Immediate Past President, a Director and a Fellow of the Tourism Management Institute, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Co-Chair of the Great South West Tourism Partnership.
Email: amanda.lumley@plymouth.gov.uk
Laura Plum
Laura has spent the last nine years at St Austell Brewery, one of the region’s largest private sector employers. Operating as part of the executive board, Laura leads on all corporate comms, the strategic direction of the company’s portfolio of beer brands and all marketing deliverables across its 160+ South West pub estate and vast regional wholesale network. Laura also spearheads the company’s sustainability strategy, helping to shape the future of the nearly 175-year-old business.
Andy Jasper
Andy Jasper is the Chief Executive Officer of the Eden Project, having joined in September 2024.
Andy was a key Member of the original team that came together to establish SWTA after the Coalition Government closed down the Regional Development Agencies and with them Regional Tourist boards.
Andy’s career includes significant work on large-scale capital investment programs at RHS Garden Wisley and the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii, with a focus on transforming visitor attractions and understanding their social and economic impact.
Andy is proudly Cornish and relishes a role that enables Cornish Tourism to grow sustainably.
Email: ajasper@edenproject.co.uk
Robin Barker FTMI
Robin Barker is Director of Services for Tourism Ltd, a consultancy/service company with a focus on delivering projects requiring commercial support. This follows 40+ years in travel and tourism, including 6 years at Saga Group, 12 years in consultancy, 2 years at National Maritime Museum Cornwall and 5 years at South West Tourism.
Robin’s company manages the tourism awards for South West England and also manages the Beautiful South Awards and runs the annual West Country Tourism Conference. Robin is also a Board Member and Past President of the Tourism Management and Chair of Visit Exmoor.
E-mail: rbarker@services4tourism.co.uk
Sally Everton
Sally’s career in travel and tourism began 25 years ago, working as Director of Sales for IHG, then Macdonald Hotels in Oxfordshire. Target markets were corporate, leisure and incentive, working both domestic and international markets. Sally was a founder member of the Oxford Marketing Group, which was effectively a new DMO, set up due to no local authority funding available for a key destination as Oxford. Working closely with Tourism SE, and VisitBritain, Oxford was promoted to all sectors, successfully raising awareness with very limited budgets. She remained on the steering group for six years.
Sally moved back to her home county of Devon 20 years ago, joining Bovey Castle as Director of Sales working predominantly international luxury leisure and MICE. Leaving Bovey after 6 years, the latter 3 working as a consultant, Sally set up on her own in 2011 launching Meet Devon which works the business tourism sector working closely with Meet England. She also offers a bespoke international representation service for venues across South West England, focussing in the main on the North American, Australian and Northern European markets. In 2016 Visit Devon launched as a CIC and Sally became General Manager working on a part time basis running their day to day operation including dealing with the the media and still does that today. She was an active part of the working party, working towards get LVEP (Local Visitor Economy Partnership) accreditation for Devon.
She is passionate about promoting Devon and the wider South West and helps to secure funding to enable the South West to be represented at national and international trade events and sales missions. Sally works closely with the Department of Industry and Trade, Innovate UK and with VisitBritain and VisitEngland to both fund and promote these missions overseas.
E-mail: sally@sallyevertonassociates.com
Liz Waugh
Liz is a strategic communications professional, working in the industry for over 30 years. She started her agency, Coast Communications in Cornwall in 2005, moving from a roster of local clients to working with international blue chips in the environment, economy and tourism, infrastructure and education sectors. The company’s work now spans the UK, with the headquarters remaining in Cornwall, and colleagues also working in London and Cardiff. Specialising in stakeholder engagement and critical incidents, the agency has worked with central government on a number of tourism recovery plans ranging from the pandemic to Dawlish rail line to restore regional economies.
Liz sits on Great Western Railway’s Advisory Board, SW Business Council, Secure Forests and Usk Valley Ospreys. She chaired the BBC Audience Council SW, Heart of the South West Transport Board and has been appointed for second terms as trustee for the Institution of Civil Engineers and Governor of the Association of Real Property and Infrastructure. She is a keen advocate of better connectivity, improving transport, communications and opportunities for business, leisure / tourism and communities.
Email: liz@coastmarcoms.co.uk
Rick Turner
Rick has spent 35 years entertaining over 2 million visitors at his award winning sheep theme park, The BIG Sheep in North Devon.
He is currently the Chair of Devon’s Top Attractions and is a past Board Member of Visit Devon and Love North Devon Marketing organisations.
Email: Rick@thebigsheep.co.uk
