Tourism director recruited for Cheshire

Marketing Cheshire has appointed Alison Duckworth to a newly created post funded jointly by Chester Zoo and Chester Racecourse.

Marketing Cheshire promotes the county to investors, visitors, students and residents.

Duckworth spent six years running her own consultancy, specialising in place marketing. Clients included Marketing Lancashire, Lakes Culture, Liverpool Vision and Visit England.

Prior to that she was head of marketing at Liverpool Culture Company re-positioning Liverpool nationally and internationally as a destination for tourism and investment through its year as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Chester Zoo and Chester Racecourse have asked Marketing Cheshire to create the role as part of a drive to raise the profile of Chester as a visitor destination and boost Cheshire’s growing tourism economy.

Duckworth said: “Chester is a unique and diverse city, home to leading visitor attractions, award-winning accommodation, a renowned history and heritage, as well as an increasingly popular shopping and food and drink proposition. I’m looking forward to bringing my experience of building strong destination brands to Chester, and helping to maximise the city’s contribution to the wider Cheshire visitor economy.”

Clive Sykes, chairman of Marketing Cheshire, said: “Alison’s appointment is a significant commitment for Marketing Cheshire in its drive to raise the profile of Chester and Cheshire. We are grateful for the support, commitment and investment of our partners Chester Zoo and Chester Racecourse, which will enable us to really drive this agenda forward and help us to put Chester on the map as a national and international visitor and business location.”