Tourism Tropical North Queensland has appointed Fiona Nicholl to the Tourism Recovery Officer role funded by the Federal and State Governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Fiona Nicholl is a Cairns-based tourism industry professional who joined her family’s business Gateway Media Group in 2008 and has been leading the business since 2012.
She founded sister companies Drive Queensland and Cairns Calendar and is a business partner in public relations and events management company Popcorn PR.
Ms Nicholl will be capably supported by an experienced team including Patrick McLoughlin and Nikki Giumelli.
Mr McLoughlin and Ms Giumelli owned and operated Cairns Adventures comprising Bad Fishy Jet Boat, Cairns River Cruises and Cairns Boat Hire which they sold in 2023 and founded Green Arrow Consultancy.
Ms Giumelli has a Masters in Tourism Management and Mr McLoughlin has more than three decades of experience in the marine tourism industry.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen welcomed Ms Nicholl and her support team who would be communicating with individual tourism businesses as soon as possible to help them access the support they need.
“The Tourism Recovery Officer is currently meeting with local government representatives in flood-affected areas to prioritise the regional rollout of meetings with tourism operators,” he said.
“She and her team will then reach out to businesses by phone to arrange meetings and visit the most impacted areas in the Douglas Shire and Cook Shire.”
The Tourism Recovery Officer can be contacted at [email protected].
The Tourism Recovery Officer is funded under the Tourism Recovery Package jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).