My Queensland TNQ Tourism Conference
Shangri-La The Marina, Cairns | 31 MAY 2023
International recovery for the region and leveraging our strengths as a sustainable destination
Join us for a full day of future-focused ideas, discussions and stories delivered by speakers with extensive backgrounds in tourism, government, airlines, inbound, wholesale and beyond.
The year of accessible tourism and international recovery will underpin the conference theme. We will inspire you with our region’s progress in attracting sustainable travellers and the continual elevation of our First Nations tourism story.
At the My Queensland TNQ Tourism Conference you’ll be among industry from across the region. Connect with peers, local suppliers, talk with our speakers and the members of the TTNQ team. When the presentations are done, we’ll help you break the ice with our tourism happy hour. Leave feeling connected and inspired to take your business’s marketing efforts to the next level.
Sessions include
Session 1: International Destination and Trade Marketing
In this session, we will hear insights from an aviation, destination, and trade marketing perspective. Speakers include representatives from Tourism Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland, Virgin Australia, Dentsu, Expedia, Trip.com and My Qld Holidays.
Session 2: Sustainability
Our conference last year provided the foundation for the region’s sustainability journey. This session will focus on the progress made to date, new programs and toolkits that are available, and how we as a region can continue to strive to fulfil our vision of being a global leader in nature-based and ecotourism. Speakers include experts from Business Chamber Queensland and our Indigenous cluster group.
Session 3: Accessibility
The year of Accessible Tourism has put a spotlight on the untapped value and potential of this sector. This session will provide valuable insights into what defines accessible visitors and how our industry can leverage the opportunities. Speakers will include experts from the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport and Vacayit.
Networking: Happy hour – Sponsored by Tourism Australia
Compare notes with your industry colleagues during the networking session at the end of the conference. The networking drinks are proudly sponsored by Tourism Australia.
THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS
My Queensland is part of the award-winning Ignite Travel Group, Australia’s leading travel distribution platform. They complement supplier distribution channels by delivering experience-rich packages that both inspire customers and create new volumes for their partners. Since its establishment in 2005, My Queensland has sent over 500,000 passengers to Queensland, a result achieved through their intimate knowledge of the industry and unrivalled distribution network.
IMATE is the Industry Media Agency for Tourism and Events in Queensland established by Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and powered by Dentsu QLD. They work in partnership with TEQ to service all tourism businesses big and small throughout the state and provide alignment, leverage and access across a suite of our connected capabilities and services which unlock growth across every stage of your customer journey.
Tourism and Events Queensland is a statutory body of the Queensland Government and the state’s lead marketing, destination and experience development and major events agency. Working across government and in partnership with regional tourism organisations, industry and commercial stakeholders, we aim to build Queensland’s tourism and events industry to foster innovation, drive industry growth and boost visitor expenditure.
Speaker announcements! More to come…
Rob Dougan
Executive General Manager, Strategy & Research, Tourism Australia
Rob has penned Tourism Australia’s brand vision since 2013. In his 16 year career in advertising, he has worked across a large range businesses including several travel brands such as easyJet, Helloworld, Virgin, Qantas and Tourism Tasmania.
Kate Duffy
Marketing Program Director, Tourism and Events Queensland
Kate is a strategic marketer with over 20 years experience working in advertising and tourism marketing. In her current role, Kate is responsible for the global marketing of the iconic Queensland brand.
Daniel Finch
Group Managing Director, Expedia Australia
Overseeing Wotif.com, lastminute.com.au and Expedia in Australia and New Zealand,
Daniel has more than 20 years industry experience working in online travel and in the hotel industry in some of the world’s and Australia’s largest chains.
Hailey Brown
CEO, Founder of Vacayit
Hailey is an Australian entrepreneur dedicated to promoting accessibility and inclusivity in the tourism industry. Vacayit is the world’s first accessible audio tourism platform, which addresses the needs of blind and low-vision travelers who were previously excluded from visual marketing.
Chris Ernst
Managing Director, Dentsu Queensland
Chris has been in the marketing and communications industry for over 20 years, in which he’s led strategy and agency partnerships for some of the globes largest brands, including Coca-Cola, ABInBev (the home of Budweiser, Heineken, Stella Artois), Flight Centre and TEQ.
Rod Carrington
General Manager, Ignite Travel Group
Boasting a wealth of sales and contracting leadership experience, Rod Carrington is the General Manager of My Holiday at Ignite Travel Group. He is responsible for the strategic direction of product recruitment for My Queensland and other My Holiday brands.
Charlotte Taylor
Program Manager, ecoBiz, Business Chamber Queensland
The ecoBiz program is a free sustainable advisory program for businesses in Queensland. Charlotte has a decade of experience in working for sustainable certification programs and has worked on Tourism Recovery grants within Austrade.
Richard Barker
Chief Executive Officer, North Queensland Airports
Since 2020, Richard has been the Chief Executive Officer of NQA, where he has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2015. NQA manages Cairns and Mackay airports. Richard is highly knowledgeable in the airport, retail, and energy industries.
Kobe Liao
Regional Director, Trip.com Group Australia
As an experienced hospitality sales & marketing leader, Kobe has gained insight into Chinese guests’ behaviour and the Chinese domestic & outbound travel market. Trip.com it one of the leading online travel agencies in the world with over 400 million members.
Cameron Costello
Deputy Chair, QTIC and CEO QYAC
For more than 15 years Cameron has worked in local and state governments delivering Indigenous policies and programs including the Indigenous Arts Program, the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and the QLD First Nations Tourism Action Plan.
Sarah Lovell
Acting Director, Tourism Business Development Policy – Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport
Sarah worked closely with Get Skilled Access to deliver the pilot Accessible Tourism in Queensland in 2022 and member of the team developing initiatives for Queensland’s Year of Accessible Tourism in 2023. With funding of $12 million, these initiatives are to help better cater to visitors of all abilities.
Nikki Giumelli
Nikki Giumelli has over 20 years of experience in owning bespoke and award-winning small businesses in the Marine Tourism sector. Nikki has specialised skills across tourism business marketing, operations, product development and sustainability and now consults in this area of expertise. In 2021, Nikki completed a master’s degree in Tourism Management at JCU and is a published researcher in this field.
Local service providers
During the breaks at our conference, visit the catering hub and connect with our local service providers. These TTNQ Corporate Supporters of Tourism members play an essential role in servicing and supporting the Tropical North Queensland tourism industry.
Program
Shangri-La The Marina, Cairns | 31 May 2023
9:00 | Arrival, registration and refreshments
9:30 | Welcome & Session 1 – International Destination and Trade Marketing speakers, including panel discussions and morning tea
Lunch
1:30 | Session 2 – Sustainability update
Afternoon Tea
3:00 | Session 3 – Accessibility panel discussion and networking
5:00 | Conclusion
[please note the program is subject to change]
Cost
Members $80 per person*
Non-Members $140 per person*
*Includes morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and networking drinks
Champion of Tourism Members receive 2 complimentary tickets. A promo code has been sent to your organisation to access the complimentary tickets. Contact Kahlia Pepper for registration questions or issues.
Registrations close 5pm, Friday 26 May.
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