Simone studied business and tourism at the Cologne Business School (Cologne, Germany), graduating in 2002. With a specialisation in destination marketing and incoming tourism, she worked for tour operators and companies in Thailand and Germany. In 2005, Simone started her job as tourism marketing manager in the German town of Wiesbaden, also known as the ‘world spa city of the 19th century’. As Head of Marketing and Deputy Managing Director with Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH, she gained more experience in health and cultural tourism between 2008 and 2020, discovering her enthusiasm for the thermal heritage in Europe.
After having engaged and participated in the development of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA) from a members’ perspective for almost a decade, Simone was appointed as Executive Director of the EHTTA in 2020. Certified as Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, EHTTA liaises with various European and International associations and networks and has been organising the International Congress on Thermal Tourism in Ourense (Spain) with the participation of UNWTO.