Skip to content

Entrepreneurship in Tourism

It was a pleasure to welcome Lorraine Simpson as a guest speaker to our Entrepreneurship in Tourism class this month.


Lorraine is a Three-Time Magellan Award-Winning Travel Entrepreneur, Cityline TV Travel Expert, a popular keynote speaker at travel industry events, and she was recently nominated for a 2021 RBC’s Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award.

Lorraine is a passionate advocate for the travel industry and her entrepreneurial spirit is inspiring. She was to launch a bricks and mortar travel agency in March 2020 however didn’t get a chance to open the doors due to covid. She decided to pivot her business and opened the Travel Café in the same location with, of course, a travel theme offering delicious foods that are reflective of cultures from around the world along with travel-inspired décor.

She shared her entrepreneurial stories with our students as to how she started out as many Travel Advisors did, with a home-based franchise, a computer, and very limited resources. After surpassing $4million in sales she sold her business and started over again focusing on luxury group travel. She also has a solid background in marketing and public relations. Her stories were well received by our students who learned firsthand what the life of a travel entrepreneur looks like. The students were fully engaged in her talk and were enthusiastic about what entrepreneurial life will look like once they graduate.

Lorraine Simpson

Lorraine Simpson

Share this article: