Events Management Knowledge
Provided by London Metropolitan University
James Bidwell
Chief Exeuctive
Visit London
As Chief Executive of Visit London, James heads up the official visitor organisation for London. Visit London promotes the capital as the most exciting city on the planet, targeting domestic and overseas leisure and business visitors as well as Londoners.
James joined Visit London in June 2005 and leads a team of around 100 people. Major areas of responsibility include: marketing and PR campaigns across the globe, London’s Business and Conventions Bureau, Events for London – dedicated to attracting major events, visitlondon.com and digital channels, and commercial tourism partnerships. Visit London is also leading on the strategy and legacy for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
James Bidwell is also the Chief Executive of London Unlimited – a strategic programme that aims to develop a global brand for London, positioning the capital as the best city in the world in which to invest, visit, study and conduct business. London Unlimited has a particular focus on emerging markets, sustainability and global cultural events.
James is keen to ensure that London’s successes are sustained and sustainable for future generations. The organisation recently commissioned research to measure the environmental impact of London’s visitor economy and will be using the findings to examine ways to help reduce the capital’s carbon footprint.
Prior to joining Visit London, James was Marketing Director at Selfridges (2001 – 2005). During his time there he directed the marketing and creative development of the business. James played a pivotal role in building the Selfridges brand and was behind the highly successful promotional campaigns Bollywood, Body Craze and Brazil 40º.
Prior to joining Selfridges, James was European Marketing Director at online toy retailer eToys Europe. Prior to this he held a number of senior marketing positions including five years at the theme park division of Walt Disney Attractions where he was responsible for the UK and European Marketing for Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World.
James is also a Fellow of the Marketing Society and a Council Member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain. He serves on the Boards of Visit England, the Central London Partnership and the London Cultural Consortium.
James Bidwell is married and has three young children.