A board member of Hamilton & Waikato Tourism (HWT) for the past three years, Mr Leggat replaces Annabel Cotton, who is retiring as chair having held the position for five years.
Ms Cotton says Mr Leggat’s significant tourism and governance experience makes him the ideal person to take on the chair role.
“I am pleased to hand over the reins to Richard. I know he will continue to benefit the HWT board with his wide-ranging knowledge in strategic development, marketing, product development and events, including cycling and winter sports.”
Mr Leggat is currently also a director of the architectural firm Warren and Mahoney, Westhaven Marina, Winter Games NZ and chair of The Kiwi Trust. Previously, he was deputy chair of Tourism New Zealand and a director of NZ Post and Panuku Development Auckland.
HWT’s new board member is Margaret Devlin. She brings to the position broad experience in governance and executive management in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Ms Devlin is a director of Waikato Regional Airport. She chairs Lyttelton Port Company, Watercare Services and the Women in Infrastructure Network. Other directorships include Waimea Water, IT Partners Group, Aurora Energy and Infrastructure New Zealand.
Mr Leggat’s and Ms Devlin’s new roles are effective 3 December 2021.
Steve Gow and Mark Morgan continue as directors of HWT, which markets the Waikato region as a visitor destination, both domestically and internationally, and grows the visitor economy through tourism development, destination management and business events.
