The Board, Chief Executive and staff of Visit Derry are delighted to welcome Michelle Simpson in her appointment as the new Chair of the organisation.
Message from the new Chairperson
“I have been employed in hospitality, Leisure Travel and Tourism now for over thirty years. The majority of my career has been to date in Senior Management /Marketing Consulting. Former lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism. I am married to Paul with two grown up daughters Nicole and Áine.
I am a self-employed consultant involved in marketing, business plans, HR, Customer care, planning and training. Since 2009 MGS Consulting have been delivering programmes to the FATER (Food, Accommodation, Transportation, Entertainment and Retail) section across the Island of Ireland and the UK. I currently deliver a number of programmes as an approved OCNNI centre, I also deliver programmes across the suite of courses for People First World Host which involved City of Culture 2013, Clipper and Fleadh. I am an associate mentor University of Leeds and have just been involved in writing the OCNNI Apprenticeship in Hospitality and Tourism. I hold a Fellowship with ISMM and IOEE.
I am both honoured and excited to be Chair at Visit Derry. I have seen the tourism industry grow from its infancy over the years with investment in a wide range of businesses, products and experiences. We have much to celebrate in the success across the FATER sectors in our City and we look forward to our members coming out of COVID-19 to open their doors to visitors and locals. It has been a very hard year, however last week with the signing of the Heads of Terms of City Deal the future is bright and our city will be once again be the vibrant, welcoming city to all.
I look forward to my new role as Chair at Visit Derry and of being part of the very hard-working team tasked with attracting and servicing visitors to the city and region”
