Bernard has been the Director of ALVA since September 2011 following a career in advocacy, communications and lobbying, latterly at a senior level in the tourism and heritage sector. He was Head of Government and Public Affairs for VisitBritain, the national tourist board between 1997 and 2010. He was a Board Director of Marketing Manchester, 2001 – 2010, and Chairman of VisitManchester, the Manchester tourist board, 2008 – 2010.

He was founder and Co-Chair of British Tourism Week, 2008 – 2010, launching the initiative and securing the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales. He is an appointed member of the Cathedral Council of St Paul’s Cathedral, London; a Trustee (2002 – 2013) and Fellow of the Tourism Society; and a Director of the Tourism Alliance, which ALVA was instrumental in founding. In 2012 he was appointed a Trustee of ‘Kids in Museums’, a Trustee of The Geffrye Museum of the Home in Hoxton, London, and a Trustee of The Heritage Alliance.

In June 2017 Bernard was announced as a member of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan’s Cultural Leadership Board which is a high-level statutory body, created to guide Sadiq’s vision for culture in the capital.

Return to judges