Alan Keith
Alan Keith is chairman of the Association of Dumfries & Galloway Accommodation Providers, a not-for profit organisation which he helped to set up in 2002. The association supports accommodation providers in the Galloway region, providing a web portal and other support for members, now exceeding 150. Co-opted recently on to the Area Tourism Partnership, he is currently involved in plans to set up a Destination Management Organisation for the region.
Since 1997, he has assisted his wife Tricia, in the operation of their farm-based B&B and self-catering unit near Castle Douglas. Alan also manages a 70 acre agricultural holding, principally let out as seasonal grazing, and including a Rural Stewardship Scheme for wildlife habitat and conservation. He has worked additionally as a building design consultant and is presently involved in developing buildings on his own farm with an emphasis on energy conservation.
Born and educated in Dumbarton, Alan first worked as an assistant engineer for the General Post Office in central London. His career in engineering covered a variety of disciplines, including postal mechanisation, air defence systems, electrical component design and industrial printing machines. In the late 70s he set up as a building contractor in the Hertfordshire area, which business he ran successfully until a decision to opt for a change of lifestyle and environment led him to Dumfries & Galloway.
Alan is perhaps best known for his involvement in the recent campaign to restore the national website to public ownership which raised awareness of the feelings of small accommodation providers adversely affected by the private public partnership. A strong believer in the importance of industry engagement at grass roots level, he hopes to use his position on the board as a means to ensure that small businesses have an effective voice when tourism issues are debated. He is an acknowledged and outspoken critic of many of VisitScotland and government policies on tourism, and an advocate of achieving change through reasoned discussion and debate.
