There will be a new director coming in to keep advertising the beauty of Petoskey as the current director plans his retirement at the end of the year.
Peter Fitzsimons
Peter Fitzsimons started the Petoskey Tourism Bureau in 1985 and, thanks to his leadership, it’s grown significantly since then.
“We started with a–first year budget was $164,000,” said Fitzsimons. “This year we’ll be pushing $3 million.”
They were also very involved in getting the bureau online during the early stages.
“We were the first CVB in the state to have a website,” Fitzsimons said. “We were very early on in social media so we’ve built that over the years to a very strong presence in that space.”
Now that Fitzsimons plans to retire at the end of the year, the incoming director, Jim Powell, has some big shoes to fill.
“Peter is an icon in the Michigan tourism industry,” said Powell. “He’s second to none when it comes to the amount of time he has been in leadership in this role and where he has brought this destination over the years.”
Powell is coming from Utah, but has strong Michigan roots, especially in Petoskey.
“This is one of my favorite places in up north,” said Powell. “I have a lot of memories here, growing up and coming up here skiing with my parents, golfing in the summer with my dad, and just spending time on the water up here.”
Fitzsimons will retire at the end of January.
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