New chair of Tourism NI

Ms Ellvena Graham has been appointed to serve as the chair of Tourism NI from July 1 2022 to June 30 2025.

The Minister commented: “I am delighted that Ms Graham has accepted the role as chair of Tourism NI.

“I am confident that she will bring significant experience to the role and play a key part in ensuring that this important sector goes from strength to strength in what promises to be an exciting time for tourism in Northern Ireland.”

Ellvena Graham OBE has extensive business experience, having worked across several different sectors including energy, banking, agri-food, business tourism, higher education and sport.

She is chairman of Catalyst Inc, also a non-executive director in Dale Farm Ltd and is the senior independent governor of Queen’s University Belfast. Amongst a range of other roles, she has been chairman of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), one of the major state-owned utilities in Ireland and a non-executive director of Ulster Bank Ltd.

She has been chairman of Belfast Waterfront & Ulster Hall since the new conference centre was established in 2016 and has played an active role in driving business tourism into Northern Ireland.

Ellvena was also president of NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry for two terms and is a past chair of the Economic Advisory Group.

Ellvena has over 30 years’ experience in banking, most recently at executive management level as head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, ending in 2015.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Banking and a Chartered Bank Director. She was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list, for contribution to the economy and advancement of women in Business. She received the IOD NI Non-Executive Director of the Year award in 2021.