Andrew Stokes OBE – Director of VisitEngland
Since joining VisitEngland Andrew has led on the creation and running of the £40m government funded Discover England Fund. The Discover England Fund has supported over 60 projects from pilots to large-scale collaborative initiatives, bringing a step-change in English tourism product. The Discover England Fund also highlighted the need for an open market place to enable SME tourism businesses from across England to gain wider distribution. This resulted in the creation of TXGB as a business-to-business platform connecting tourism suppliers to a diverse range of domestic and international distributors.
More recently Andrew has led VisitEngland in its response to The de Bois review, on the delivery and structure of DMO’s in the English Tourism Landscape. Since 2022, VisitEngland has been creating and implementing an accreditation scheme for DMO’s.
Andrew is responsible for a diverse program of support for English tourism businesses including a comprehensive business advice hub and specific initiatives to help business recovery during and post the Covid-19 pandemic.
Andrew was awarded the OBE on King Charles’ Birthday Honours list in 2023.
