Tourism Talent enters Australia

September 24, 2019

New Zealand’s only dedicated tourism talent development and recruitment marketplace has launched in Australia operating in both New South Wales and Western Australia.

Chris Flynn, President and CEO at The World Tourism Association for Culture & Heritage and former Regional Director Pacific for PATA, and Karen Priest, the Principal of Smart Tourism, a Perth based tourism consulting firm join Tourism Talent as Australian Directors.

Mr Flynn will be familiar to many as a he’s been a regular speaker at tourism conferences throughout New Zealand.

Ms Priest has 30 years’ experience in the private and public sector and currently serves on the Board of Tourism Western Australia.

Tourism Talent New Zealand’s Managing Director Dylan Rushbrook says ‘Australia is a natural next step. A number of our international clients have asked when we would move into the Australian market as they have similar talent issues to that of New Zealand. We also realise that the right talent doesn’t always live in New Zealand, so expanding into Australia opens up our talent pool, and creates opportunities for professionals to move between the two markets through our services.’

‘We are incredibly lucky to have people of the calibre of Chris and Karen believe in and share our passion for change.  Both bring extensive local and global networks and will help take Tourism Talent to another level.’ says Rushbrook.

Flynn says, ‘The opportunity to become part of Tourism Talent was an easy decision. As an industry we’ve struggled in the past due to a lack of dedicated career platforms and expert guidance to help us determine the most appropriate career path to take. Tourism Talent fills that gap and I am proud to be part of the Australian team.’

Priest adds, ‘I am beyond excited about joining the Tourism Talent team.  With 30 years’ experience in tourism, hospitality and recruitment in various parts of the world including New Zealand and Australia for a number of years, I am passionate about both countries, in mentoring our youth and encouraging them to think of tourism as an exhilarating career path for their future.

To support the expansion into the Australian market, Tourism Talent has also launched a new website this week. The website was developed by Auckland based Maverick Digital, who as a client of Tourism Talent’s had a unique insight into the business from both the client and candidate point of views.

Rushbrook goes on to say, ‘the great thing is that amongst the directors and our clients there is real energy and passion to see change happen and to see tourism become recognized for the amazing career that it can be. We are all really proud of what we’ve achieved over the past year, but there is a long way to go in New Zealand, Australia, and beyond.’

MEDIA RELEASE: 17 September 2019

ENDS       For more information please contact; Dylan Rushbrook +64 212850625

dylan.rushbrook@tourismtalent.co.nz    www.wordpress-515825-1957764.cloudwaysapps.com

 

About Tourism Talent

Tourism Talent was established in New Zealand in 2018 by tourism industry professionals Jason Hill (formerly of ATEED and Tourism NZ), and Dylan Rushbrook, (formerly of SKYCITY and Heritage & CityLife Hotels) who joined forces with Nuwanthie Samarakone, CEO of ICE, a talent development agency with offices in London, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Auckland and Wellington.

Born from frustration in sourcing quality talent for roles, and other agencies not understanding the tourism industry, the directors quickly established Tourism Talent and set about building a unique position in the market to make change happen, whilst supporting industry wide initiatives to change the image of tourism as a career.

Tourism Talent has three areas of focus in executive search, temping and development and is a sponsor of the New Zealand Tourism Awards – Employer of Choice Award in 2019.

 

Director Bios

Chris Flynn, Director Tourism Talent Australia, President and CEO of The World Tourism Association for Culture & Heritage

Chris is a senior tourism specialist with more than 30 year’s experience at the most senior level of industry. Internationally recognised as a leader of tourism development and strategy, Chris is a regular speaker at high profile events and provides insights and perspective to leading news media channels such as BBC World News Asia Business Report.    His career has spanned four continents operating in regions such as: UK, Europe, United States, Asia and the Pacific.  He is a past member of the APEC Tourism Working Group and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Consular Consultative Group, his expertise is regularly sought by Governments, Public-Sector Agencies, NGO’s and International Education groups and faculties.

Karen Priest, Director Tourism Talent Australia, Principal Smart Tourism

Karen’s career spans 30 years’ in the tourism and hospitality sector in the United Kingdom, South Africa, New Zealand and Western Australia. Karen is the Principal of Smart Tourism a boutique marketing consultancy which provides strategic solutions and advice to the tourism industry. She has worked in senior roles with regional, state and national tourism agencies including Tourism Australia (New Zealand based), Tourism Western Australia, New Caledonia Tourism (NZ Office) Tourism South West and Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation.    Her sector experience covers the wine industry, caravan & camping, and hotel management.  In 2012 Karen was the recipient of the Australian Hotels Association (Western Australia) Executive Level Manager Award.   She has served on several tourism boards including Tourism Council Western Australia (TCWA), the Perth Convention Bureau, the WA Branch of the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), and the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce. She is currently a Board Commissioner at Tourism Western Australia.

Dylan Rushbrook, Managing Director of Tourism Talent, General Manager Tourism Central Otago, Director of Synergy Tourism Consulting

Dylan has over 25 years’ experience in tourism and hospitality operations, including senior roles with Scenic Hotel Group, SKYCITY Entertainment Group and Heritage and CityLife Hotels. A founding board member of the Young Tourism Export Council of New Zealand and chair for two years during which time he pushed for tourism to be recognized as a professional career. Dylan is currently a board member of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand, a director of Dunedin Venues and the General Manager of Tourism Central Otago.

Jason Hill, Director Tourism Talent, Managing Partner at Tourism Investment Partners, Managing Director Meneth Consulting

Over 25 year’s experience in the New Zealand and Japanese tourism industry across marketing, management and governance in the private and public sectors, including senior roles at Auckland Tourism, Events, and Economic Development, Tourism New Zealand, and Christchurch Tourism. Jason is a past board member of I-site NZ, NZ Cruise Association, PATA, and currently Tourism Bay of Plenty, Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki Te Haerenga, and AUT Tourism School.

Nuwanthie Samarakone, Director of Tourism Talent, CEO of ICE

Over 10 year’s experience in recruitment and talent development. Nuwanthie’s company ICE operates offices in New Zealand, United Kingdom, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The focus is on early talent identification and development, matching the right talent with the right role. Nuwanthie sits on multiple advisory boards assisting government, tertiary education providers and commercial businesses understand how to work with the changing workforce.