10 | It’s all about partnership | The now
The now… Visit East of England, what we are and what we do The purpose of Visit East of England is to work in partnership to grow the visitor economy of our region. We want more footfall of domestic and international visitors, year-round. We want to convert day trippers to stay visitors, and encourage more and longer breaks bringing more value to the industry. VEE is a private sector, not for profit limited company that is the region’s visitor economy conduit to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the national tourism organisations VisitBritain and VisitEngland. Chaired by Adnams’ Chief Executive Dr Andy Wood OBE, the current VEE board includes representatives of rail operator Greater Anglia, Stansted
Airport, VisitEngland, Norfolk County Council, Suffolk Growth and the Suffolk & Norfolk Culture Board. It receives no core funding, but marketing funds from local authorities in Suffolk and Norfolk have helped facilitate a coalition of DMOs that promote the two counties to a domestic audience through Visits Suffolk and Norfolk and international audience through Visit East of England. This ongoing project is the first time all Suffolk and Norfolk DMOs and local authorities have worked together. The collaborative approach has been acclaimed at a national level. VisitBritain Chairman Nick de Bois said at last year’s VEE & Partners Visitor Economy Conference that the approach was ‘trailblazing’.
