26 Jan 2016, London: Members of the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) returned yesterday from their Annual General Meeting, held in Tenerife, with a new board at the helm.

Longstanding Guild member, Alastair McKenzie, takes over the role of Chair from Mary Moore Mason who is standing down.

A number of board members are staying on: Yolanda Zappaterra (now as Vice-Chair), Jan Fuscoe (as Membership Secretary), Kathryn Liston (Treasurer), Kiki Deere (Social Media), Olivia Greenway (now Secretary & Planning), and Roger Bray (Web Editor).

New additions to the board are: Mary Anne Evans who will be taking on Sponsorship and Major events assisted by Gillian Thornton.

The change of management brings with it a change of focus for the 56-year-old Guild.

“In the last few years, the makeup of Guild membership has changed almost unnoticed, with a sizeable intake of young digital storytellers and content creators”, says Alastair McKenzie. “We already have a number of premier division travel and parent bloggers in our ranks, I am now keen to expand that diversity to include, for example, Instagramers, Youtubers and other travel media influencers, and at the same time, have those changes in our expertise recognised by PRs, DMOs and others working in the travel & tourism industry. So this will be the year to open the Guild up to many more collaborations with social media travel organisations and events.”

Eighty-five of the Guild's 270+ members travelled to the island of Tenerife last week as guests of Turismo de Tenerife & Turismo de Canarias. In addition to the business of the actual AGM itself, members were able, over four days, to explore the island, its culture, cuisine and activities, from the peak of Mt Teide to the rare wildlife-rich sea. (See the hashtag #BGTWagm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, G+)

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Further info: BGTW Secretariat, 020 8144 8713, secretariat@bgtw.org