Deirdre Wells OBE
Chief Executive

Deirdre is CEO of Go To Places, and leads both Visit Kent and Visit Herts, having been instrumental in achieving LVEP status for both destination in 2023. Previously, she was CEO at UKinbound and worked for over 20 years for the UK Government, notably on projects including the Millennium Dome and London Olympics. She serves on the Tourism Alliance Board, and lives on the Kent coast with her family.

Catherine Royle
Commercial Director

Catherine is responsible for developing GTP’s commercial offer, and delivering products and services that delight our stakeholders. She has recently joined GTP, following a varied career including hospitality and tourism sustainability consulting, and a wealth of experience in commercial cross-sector partnerships. Based in Kent, she spends a lot of her personal time in London and travelling further afield whenever possible.

Alanna Kite
Head of Partnerships

Alanna leads the destination partnerships team who build relationships with industry partners in our destinations, ensuring that our activity aligns with wider objectives and supports economic growth. Alanna also leads on GTP's overseas and travel trade strategies, to ensure growth and exposure of our destinations and products to the global travel trade industry. Alanna has many years experience in working with the travel trade and has successful trade relationships across Europe and the US.

Jim Dawson
Head of Marketing

Jim has 25 years experience in insight-led marketing, digital solutions development and PR across a range of sectors. He is responsible for the creation of destination marketing strategies and campaign delivery across the GTP portfolio. Jim specialises in creative problem solving and behavioural science ensuring solutions adhere to a visitor first approach.

Alison Hughes
Head of Operations

Alison leads on the HR, office and compliance functions of the business, to ensure they support and align with the overarching strategy of the organisation. She also looks after the governance, acting as Company Secretary, enabling the Chair and wider Board to best support the executive.

Ruby Russ
Senior Research and Insights Manager

Ruby leads on commercial research projects, turning data into actionable insights, that help to inform audience development, content, and strategy, ensuring everything we do is intel-led, data driven and robust. Ruby also helps to support with the delivery of other research activities including residents and visitor perception research, whilst monitoring external research sources, including consumer trends and latest industry reports

Sophie Hewitt
Senior Marketing Manager

Sophie is responsible for driving B2C digital marketing activities. She leads the content strategy across all consumer digital channels, using paid promotions and analytics to grow audience reach and engagement. Sophie combines her expertise in digital marketing, content creation, and data-driven strategies to optimise campaigns. Along with Alanna, she led the work to deliver the latest Destination Management Plans for Kent and Hertfordshire, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and business objectives.

Josh Carter
Campaigns Manager

As Campaigns Manager, Josh is responsible for the delivery and management of all campaign activity at Visit Kent & Visit Herts. He delivers the annual buy-in campaigns for Visit Kent which has included the 2022 Must Visit Kent campaign, for 2023 and 2024 ‘It’s in our Nature…’, as well as partner specific projects. Aside from campaign delivery, he contributes to the Visit Kent and Visit Herts social media, content creation and takes photos when needed.

Steve Law
Head of Delivery

Steve is is highly experienced in leading tourism and cultural projects. He ensures timely, budget-conscious delivery, providing strategic guidance at every stage. With expertise in stakeholder engagement, workshop facilitation, and destination management, Steve helps local authorities and businesses develop sustainable strategies for economic growth.

James Benjafield
Deputy Office Manager and PA to CEO

James serves as Office and HR Manager, PA to the CEO, and Events Manager at Go To Places, having joined the organisation in 2017. His multi-faceted role encompasses administrative, human resources, executive support, and event planning responsibilities within the company.

Ellie Motta
Marketing Assistant

Ellie Motta manages our business communications by running the LinkedIn social account and by updating businesses with our weekly bulletins and dedicated newsletters. Ellie also takes part in projects to ensure business engagement and to make sure they are constantly updated

Abby McEleney
Digital Marketing Apprentice

Abby McEleney assists with the work across our destinations with the creation of business to business communications and digital content for consumers, as well as supporting the delivery of quarterly networking events, marketing campaigns and projects.