National park supremo named as new chief of VisitScotland

THE convener of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park has been named as the new chairman of VisitScotland.

Dr Michael Cantlay will take over from outgoing chairman Peter Lederer on 1 April in the part-time position which carries a 24,000 salary.

As chairman of Visit Scotland, he will be responsible for helping to shape the way Scotland promotes itself overseas.

John Swinney, Cabinet secretary for finance and sustainable growth, said: "Mike Cantlay has all the credentials to drive VisitScotland forward and help support the Scottish tourism sector."

Dr Cantlay is chairman and managing director of tourism business William Glen, which has interests in Scotland, Canada and the USA. He was previously chair and managing director of Highland dress specialist Hector Russell and also tourist retail chain The Whisky Shop.

He has held several public appointments including deputy chair of VisitScotland; chair of Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley; chair of the board of management at Forth Valley College and an advisory member of the board of Scottish Enterprise.

Dr Cantlay said: "Chairing VisitScotland will be an enormous privilege. Post recession, Scottish tourism faces a challenging environment. It will be my objective to lead VisitScotland, our partners and the industry to seize the step change opportunities that will drive our industry forward toward our ambitious targets."