By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Lori Harnois, director of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development, has resigned her post in state government.
In a letter to the state’s travel and tourism industry, Harnois said her last day will be Sept. 26 and that she is heading to Vermont to Delaney Event Management in Winooski.
The Division of Travel and Tourism Development, as part of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, works with the state’s seven travel regions to increase visitation, travel and visitor expenditures in order to expand business activity and employment throughout the state.
The division is responsible for domestic and international advertising and public relations, literature publication and distribution.
This is the second time Harnois has held the job and left it, though the first time was when the state had another name for the division, under what was then known as the state Department of Resources and Economic Development or DRED.
In July, 2014 she announced she was leaving to become the executive director of Discover New England in Portsmouth, which promotes the six New England States.
In January, 2020, Harnois returned to her old post which Gov. Chris Sununu called it a “critical state position.”
“Tourism is critically important to New Hampshire as our second-largest revenue generator,” said Sununu in a statement on her re-hiring in 2020. He said her “skillset, strategy vision and expertise made her an easy choice.”
Sununu, a Republican, is not seeking another term.
At a gubernatorial candidates primary on Monday, hosted by the NH Lodging and Restaurant Association, tourism officials were discussing the loss of the state’s leader as they prepare for a busy fall tourism season which attracts visitors from all over the world.
Many said she would be missed in New Hampshire and that she did a good job to grow the state’s revenue through directing marketing to visitors.
In a letter which was recently sent out to the industry, Harnois said she will be Delaney’s director of business development.
She added she will also be working with the US Travel Association, as the National Council of State Tourism Director liaison.
“I have lived and worked in New Hampshire for 32 years, 11 of those as the state’s Tourism Director, so as you might imagine this decision was bittersweet. It has been my pleasure and honor to serve in this capacity and I want to personally thank all of you for your support, and for your tireless efforts in helping to promote and grow our tourism industry,” she wrote.
In terms of accomplishments she wrote about the “challenges of working through and recovering from a global pandemic; growing the return-on-investment from $13 (FY19) to $17 (FY23) for every dollar spent on tourism marketing; welcoming thousands of visitors to New Hampshire to witness a Total Solar Eclipse; and hosting the region’s largest travel trade show, the Discover New England Summit. I am also proud of the stewardship work to help protect our natural resources from over-tourism through the Don’t Take New Hampshire for Granite and Leave No Trace initiatives,” she said.
In 2020, when Harnois returned to the job, only under a newly named department, state Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell noted that “under Lori’s leadership, New Hampshire’s tourism industry has set records nearly every season for visitation and visitor’s spending.”
“Her collaborative nature has helped strengthen relationships with key tourism leaders from around the state,” Caswell said.
The job is now open.
It requires the occupant to develop and administer programs aimed at growing the tourism industry within the state, specifically increasing visitor spending and jobs; advances strategies to support business and workforce recruitment.
