English Tourism Week: Introducing the city’s official Destination Management Organisation

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Destinations are the heart and soul of England’s visitor economy, they are the places that inspire visits and support growth in the economy.

Visit Lincoln was established as a Community Interest Company in April 2018 and is the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for the city and surrounding countryside.

DMOs co-ordinate and manage many of the elements needed to make an attractive destination, including websites, printed literature, PR, and more.

Working in partnership with organisations and industries in Lincolnshire to fly the flag as a Top 10 Leisure Destination. Visit Lincoln’s aim is to raise awareness of Lincoln and Lincolnshire as a great place to visit, study, meet and invest.

The Visit Lincoln website attracts over 100,000 visitors in peak months and acts as a go-to place for up-to-date information on events and cultural experiences, places to visit, the areas accommodation offer, tours and trails.

Visit Lincoln is made up of six individuals who work to support the county’s tourism industry:

Lydia Rusling, CEO

With over 15 years working in Lincolnshire’s tourism industry, Lydia’s career history is impressive to say the least. With experience at Lincolnshire Tourism, Lincolnshire County Council, and Lincoln Minster School (to name a few), Lydia is knowledgeable and passionate about the local visitor economy, and how the Visitor Economy is a leading industry in the county. Playing a vital role in flying the flag for Lincolnshire’s tourism sector, Lydia’s hands-on approach to leadership has become a driving force behind Visit Lincoln’s success.

Joel Murray, Digital Marketing Manager

Joel Murray. Photo: Visit Lincoln

Graduating with a degree in Media Production, Joel joined the Visit Lincoln team in 2013 and has attracted various awards for the company including first place in the English Tourism Social Media Index and Best Use of Multimedia at the Lincolnshire Digital and Technology Awards, Joel’s main tasks involve content creation and curation for the Visit Lincoln website and social media marketing.

Clare Williams, Business Development & Partnership Director

Clare has worked in the Tourism and Hospitality sector for nearly 10 years, and also enjoyed a number of years in Retail and E-Commerce roles in both private and public organisations. Clare leads on the Business Development of Visit Lincoln and utilises her industry mindset to focus on recruiting and retaining partners, who are core to Visit Lincoln’s continued success and growth. She represents Visit Lincoln at local and national industry events and takes a leading role on the Meet Lincoln & Lincolnshire project — celebrating and raising awareness of Lincolnshire business tourism opportunities.

Charlotte Goy, PR & Marketing Director

Graduating with a degree in Public Relations, Charlotte has worked in PR roles for a variety of companies. Charlotte also worked at Visit Lincolnshire before going freelance and eventually rejoining Visit Lincoln in May 2017. Charlotte deals with external communications and takes the lead on any corporate PR. She also leads on the print and marketing elements of Visit Lincoln’s consumer activity and projects.

Sammy Pengelly, Projects & Marketing Manager

Having worked for the City of Lincoln Council for almost ten years, Sammy has organised some of the Councils’ most major events such as Lincoln Christmas Market and the Olympic Torch Relay in 2012. During Sammy’s 12 month secondment at Visit Lincoln, she will be responsible for a variety of projects, producing literature, and print marketing, supporting the Business Visits & Events promotion and leading on data gathering and analytical research of destination performance.

Megan Johnson, Marketing Executive

Megan approached Visit Lincoln in 2018 to gain more experience in content writing and communications, having Graduated in Magazine Journalism from Teesside University. Having spent 10 weeks with the team she officially joined the team full time as a Marketing Executive in February. Dividing her time across the company, Megan works closely with Clare on partnership administration, supporting Joel with digital developments and Lydia with corporate media. Megan takes a lead on the Visit Lincoln business blog and monthly Insights newsletters that are sent to partners and stakeholders.