Carmel Dennis

Associate, England, UK

Carmel DennisExperience

Carmel Dennis has worked in travel and tourism for over 20 years at a variety of operational and management levels.

Before going into tourism consultancy, Carmel was Marketing Director at the Heart of England Tourist Board where she had responsibility for the management and implementation of overseas and domestic marketing campaigns, visitor information services and media relations.

Prior to this she was Tourism Officer for Shrewsbury Borough Council and Conference Officer at the University of Liverpool. Her early career included roles at Merseyside Tourism, Saga Holidays and tour operator Owners Abroad.

Recent projects have included ongoing visitor services development for the City of London Corporation and visitor information strategies for Manchester, Staffordshire and Tourism Northern Ireland. She has also worked on destination management plans for Bradford and Oldham councils and works frequently for VisitEngland/VisitBritain on a variety of projects.

Core skills and qualifications

Carmel has a BA Hons in modern languages (French, Spanish and Italian) and a Post Graduate Diploma in tourism.

She coordinates the UK’s Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP) and has extensive contacts in the industry.

Carmel combines a broad understanding of the challenges of destination management with a practical approach focusing on realistic opportunities for implementation and developing effective partnerships.

She is particularly skilled at undertaking consultations and running workshops that fully engage stakeholders and lead to cooperative partnerships for destinations.

Specialisms

Her particular expertise is in the fields of:

  • Visitor information services – including maximising influence on existing visitors in the destination, digital applications, User Generated Content and Social Media
  • Conferences and business travel – including research and consultation programmes for destinations and marketing advice
  • Travel trade (incoming and group travel) – including liaison with industry representatives and consultations regarding coach and group travel opportunities and new product development
  • Destination marketing and development plans – including business consultations and workshops, creative solutions and action plans

International work has included projects for Uganda, Belize and St Helena.

Carmel is based in Central London.