Introducing Ellen in Paris!
Find out more about our new French PR representative, Ellen who is based in Paris.
13 February 2023
Guernsey-born, Ellen Groves, joined the VisitGuernsey team as the French PR representative in January 2023. Ellen moved to Paris 20 years ago and has built a fantastic network for us to tap into.
Want to know more about Ellen? Here’s a quick summary of her background and role as part of our extended team.
‘I started my career in local media at the “voice of the islands,” BBC Radio Guernsey. I never would have predicted, wandering up and down the High Street asking if people knew who Victor Hugo was for the bicentenary of the author’s birth in 2002 or rushing around the live studio for the Guernsey Island Games in 2003 would serve me talking to French journalists now, 20 years on.
After a career first as a journalist covering fashion, celebrity and business, then in communications for a host of clients including in hospitality. It’s an honour for my professional path to return to the islands, where my family and I travel back every summer, island hopping to Herm and Sark, and camping in Alderney, usually with groups of French friends in tow. My bilingual kids are every inch Guerns as they are Parisians, proud of that unique heritage Anglo and Normande.
As the VisitGuernsey PR representative in France this year - and what a year! – I’ll be communicating on all the major events, Guernsey 2023 and that island community spirit that saw 1000 of islanders volunteering, the world-class Renoir exhibition and partnership with Giverny, and so much more. The role includes representing the islands at French tourism events, pitching stories, sending out newsletters that celebrate our islands’ places, culture and our stories. For the culturally curious French, we’re a dream visit. Geographically in Normandy, yet so very British – and yet… where else in the world would the proclamation of King Charles have been with the French words, “Dieu sauve le roi?”
My approach is one of cultural tourism, getting the word out even more that not only are our islands stunning places to visit, with so many original places to stay and incredible local food, they’re also happening places to return to over again. I’ll be sending out a regular newsletter to media here and people with island connections. Please feel free to get in touch with ideas of what France should be hearing about the islands!’
We’re thrilled to have Ellen on board, her enthusiasm, French and local connections, and knowledge base is exactly what we need. 2023 is going to be a very exciting year for the French market with all the planned activity and events.
Have a question for Ellen? Feel free to say hello at visitguernsey@ellengroves.fr.
Read more about some of the French activity Ellen is working on here… Renoir in Guernsey, 1883 | Guernsey Trade Media
