Willie Macleod has spent his working life in tourism. He was born and educated in Glasgow and graduated in Hotel Management from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Strathclyde. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and a Fellow of the Tourism Society.
His early career was spent in the hotel industry in general management. This was followed by senior management positions in economic development and management consultancy, specialising in tourism, with PricewaterhouseCoopers and SQW Consulting Limited. Between 2001 and 2008 he was, variously, Director of Industry Services and Director of Visitor Services (VS) and Quality at VS. In 2008 he established his own consultancy business. He holds non-executive directorships at New Lanark Trust, Lennoxlove House Limited, The Scottish Tourism Forum and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company.
He is married to Diane and lives in Edinburgh. His interests include most sports, food and drink and, in particular, sailing on the Scottish West coast.