This holiday parks head is to take the chair at Marketing Lancashire

Andrea Challis, joint owner and CEO of one of Lancashire’s successful holiday park operators, The Partington Group, has been appointed by the Board of Marketing Lancashire to the role.

She became a director of the Board of Marketing Lancashire in 2019 and has been active in the promotion of the county, sharing her wealth of experience on a number of sub-groups covering a wide range of businesses and visitor attractions.

Andrea is also a member of the Blackpool Business Leaders Recovery Group and is a director of Blackpool Tourism Bid.

She said “As a Lancastrian who has worked in tourism, travel and the hospitality industry for most of my life, I’m really proud to take on the role of interim chair of the board of Marketing Lancashire.

"I’m also grateful to my fellow board directors for their support and for the confidence they have shown in me.

“Over the last couple of years the tourism sector, in particular, has suffered greatly from the impact of the pandemic.

"Partingtons, like so many others, endured great challenges and had to dig deep, calling on all the expertise, skill and creativity of our teams to pull through.

“I believe it is that resilience and innovation, across every sector, that will be at the forefront of our recovery and in my role at Marketing Lancashire, I’ll do all I can to help Lancashire to continue to grow and thrive.”

Andrea steps into the interim role following the departure of Tony Attard OBE, at the end of 2021.

The full recruitment process for the appointment of a permanent chair is currently on hold until the Government announces its response to the Destination Management Organisation review, as this could potentially inform future governance arrangements.

Rachel McQueen, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire, said: “We are so pleased that Andrea has agreed to become Interim Chair, she is a fantastic advocate for the county and for the tourism and hospitality sector and we look forward to working closely with her over these critical next few months as we work with stakeholders to set future ambitions for the promotion of Lancashire.”