Mark Terry-Lush

Current positions:  Board member of Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Tourism Ltd (Director) and member of the Marketing sub-group

Brief experience: A member of the board since 2014 and partner since 2010 now retired from running self-catering businesses. A former photo-journalist, today I run an international communications agency with offices in London, Amsterdam and China. During my time as a Director of the DMO, I led the campaign to launch our TV and Movie Trail with surfing Stormtroopers and Darth Vader hijacking the SARA Lifeboat; I brought Leaf Peeping to the area and positioned us as the Leaf Peeping capital of the UK. I’ve worked closely with colleagues to plan, write and launch the new website and promote it with our Towns and Villages campaign. This year I led the #GoFindFreedom campaign and launched five films about the key pillars of the area; during the summer of 2022 I created #CyclistsWelcome, which featured a film to reinforce our position as one of the best cycling destinations in Europe. 

Key skills: Business planning, legal and finance, creative development, PR, marketing, media management.

Reasons for being a member of the board: I moved here in 2002 and I fell in love with this area and its people.  I am committed to put Forest of Dean and Wye Valley on the tourism map and support its businesses any way I can.  I’ve leveraged my professional experience to create campaigns that make us stand out, I’ve fought for partners by putting pressure on MPs, and through regular media appearances I highlight the challenges that tourism and hospitality businesses face and actively promote the solutions that we need following Brexit, Covid and now the cost of doing business crisis.