Meet the New Women in Tourism Board Directors
Women in Tourism are delighted to welcome four new industry professionals to the Board. Read more about our new additions, what they do and what they plan to bring to the future development of WIT.
Sally Rae, Principal Consultant, Eden Scott
Sally’s work in the hospitality and tourism industry spans over thirty-five years, supporting its growth in cross-sectoral roles, largely based in Scotland. With an early career including leading sales teams within hotels, conference venues and for industry suppliers, Sally has spent the last twelve years, nine with Eden Scott, finding the very best talent for Scotland’s world-renowned tourism businesses. Her extensive network and unrivalled industry knowledge have helped organisations including V&A Dundee, National Museums of Scotland and EICC to grow their business and support the Scottish economy. Much of Sally’s work focuses on helping tourism businesses find the senior level talent they need while developing the hospitality and business tourism recruitment business at Eden Scott. Sally sits on the ASVA (Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions) Board and is passionate about mentoring, inspiring and developing future tourism leaders. Sally will lead on developing WIT membership.
Alyce Paton, Visitor Experience Manager, Camera Obscura & World of Illusions
Alyce is currently the Visitor Experience Manager at the award-winning Camera Obscura and World of Illusions visitor attraction in Edinburgh. This involves management of all aspects of the visitor experience; including strategic planning, budgeting and KPI setting and operational management of the technical and guiding teams. Alice grew up in Australia and started her career in science centres, moving to Edinburgh in 2012. Her career in tourism in Edinburgh over the past eight years has included studying for and receiving an MBA from Edinburgh University, winning a prestigious HIT Scholarship and being awarded the ASVA (Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions) Rising Star Award. Alyce enjoys the ability to have a positive impact on visitor experiences, staff and colleagues across the sector and is looking forward to bringing her skills and fresh outlook to benefit the development of Women in Tourism.
Kerry Watson, Sales Manager, Accommodation, Events, Conferences, University of St. Andrews
Kerry has over twenty years’ experience working in the tourism industry, mainly in the sales and marketing promotion of Scotland as a Business Events destination. After spending fifteen years at VisitScotland in the Business Events team, her current role is as Sales Manager within the Accommodation, Conferences and Events team at the University of St Andrews. She oversees the marketing and sales activity of all of the University venues and accommodation, as well as supporting academics in the bidding process to bring conferences to Scotland and to host them at the University of St Andrews. Prior to her board appointment, Kerry was voted one of the WIT Top 100 Women in Tourism in the organisation’s 2018 campaign. Kerry is looking forward to helping develop regional WIT chapters.
Lindsay Neilson, Senior Corporate & Incentive Manager, Business Events Team, VisitScotland
Lindsay is the Senior Corporate & Incentive Manager in VisitScotland’s Business Events team, and has spent twenty years working in destination, tourism and hospitality sectors. With a focus on marketing and communication roles, she started her career in the premium drinks industry in France, before moving to tourism at the end of 2007. She is a keen enthusiast in mentoring and public speaking skills development, being a past president of Capital Communicators Toastmasters club. Lindsay brings extensive experience to WIT in mentoring to develop career confidence and gender balance. A recent graduate of the award-winning Destination Leaders Programme, Lindsay is looking forward to working on the development of WIT International chapters.
