As a dedicated and passionate tourism and local government professional, Joel has extensive experience spanning 12 years in roles in Victoria’s Goldfields region as Manager Tourism, Events and Culture at Central Goldfields Shire Council, and as the current Coordinator Visitor Economy at City of Ballarat in Victoria. To accompany this local government experience, Joel spent 7 years as a board member of Bendigo Regional Tourism Board up until 2019, where he moved for his new role at the other bookend of the Goldfields, in Ballarat.

Joel has driven and delivered strategic projects that have included but not limited to the Ballarat Traveller Experience Plan, Ballarat Visitor Economy Strategy, Bendigo Region Destination Management Plan, Central Goldfields Tourism and Events Strategy, along with various Regional Brand Personality Blueprints and Visitor Servicing strategies.

Lori has had a diverse career in community and economic development for over 25 years. From Regional Marketing Manager at Tourism NSW, Community and Economic Development Manager at a Local Government Authority through to Senior Manager of Place Activation and Strategy at Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

In the past 15 years through her business, Lorick Management, she has held roles such as Event Manager of the NSW Tourism Awards, Marketing Manager of New England North West Tourism and CEO of Outback NSE Tourism, Hills Hawkesbury Tourism and South Coast Tourism. Through her business she now holds the role of Project Manager for Sturt’s Steps in Outback NSW, CEO of Outdoors NSW and General Manager of Visitor Economy Development.

Hi, I’m Hamish, CEO at Smarter Tourism Technology and founder of Booking Aggregator.  I love tech,  it fascinates, amazes, sometimes frustrates and occasionally terrifies me.  I have spent over 20 years working in a variety of roles in the tech industry.  For the past 7 years my focus has been primarily on Travel and tourism. 

When I started Smarter Tourism Technology it was with the aim of helping my clients make their technology work harder, so that they don’t have to.  From booking platform setup and integrations to off grid public Wi-Fi this remains our goal.

With a career spent entirely in tourism and hospitality, I'm passionate about all things tourism, especially what drives the path to purchase, and the end result: the visitor experience.

My career spans operational and marketing roles across destinations in Australia’s Northern Territory, The Flinders Ranges SA, The Kimberley WA, Tasmania, QLD Islands, and The Daintree QLD. For the last 9 years I’ve had the pleasure of representing Gippsland in Victoria’s east as the marketing lead for Destination Gippsland.

At Destination Gippsland I’ve developed skills in AI, digital marketing, as well as grant writing and governance, working across six local government areas for the not for profit regional tourism board. I have extensive experience in crisis management marketing, destination and product branding, brand campaigns and analytics. I love data, especially visitor sentiment analysis.

Previous roles as Creative Marketing Manager for Territory Discoveries, a travel wholesale operation and as Director of Sales at Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia provided invaluable skill development across the distribution and commercial aspects of the travel and tourism industry.

I have represented Gippsland on the board of Business Events Victoria, and am the current Chair of Sydney-Melbourne Touring.

During my time at Destination Gippsland we have steered the region to greater awareness through the development of a multi-award winning website, and experienced strong growth across social media channels, through PR activity and launched a consumer newsletter.

During my tenure, we have won Gold at the Victorian and Australian Tourism Award for Destination Marketing, 2021. We also won the Australian Marketing Institute award for brand revitalisation in 2022 for Gippslands’ All Kinds of Wonder destination brand.

Marcus has led the WA regional tourism organisation, Australia’s Golden Outback, since 2017, overseeing its transition from a destination marketing focussed entity to one that also focuses on targeted destination development initiatives to facilitate the implementation of local tourism strategies, experience and product development and capability building. This has also seen the development of innovative partnerships with local governments that has seen the development and LGA funded in-region Tourism Development Managers in Esperance and the WA Goldfields. Australia’s Golden Outback launched their Agritourism Strategy in 2023 and its implementation has included the formation of a new cross-regional WA Stations Stays Collective, which has seen the mentoring of a number of existing Station Stays and other pastoralists exploring diversification into tourism, attendance at ATE and expansion of the group into the North West of WA. Previously, Marcus has held senior positions at Tourism Western Australia, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association, RTO Welcome to Yorkshire and UK treetop adventure company Go Ape. Before discovering tourism as Head of Marketing at Go Ape, Marcus had positions at brand and marketing agencies in the UK and Sweden.

Dr Sarah Gardiner has a PhD in Marketing. She is an Associate Professor in tourism and the Director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism. Sarah has worked for the past 25 years in the Australian tourism industry, including working for over seven years as the Senior Industry Development Officer (Tourism) for Gold Coast City Council. Sarah was responsible for producing the city’s first tourism strategy, Our Tourism City, and has managed several key tourism industry projects, such as development strategies for the Gold Coast’s youth and backpacker, food and wine, and nature-based tourism markets. She also coordinated major research projects for Griffith University investigating the tourism and economic development strategies implemented by cities and regions throughout Australia to leverage the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and research into the travel behaviour of international students studying in Australia. She has provided consultancy services on several other industry and academic projects in the areas of tourism, events, marketing and community engagement. Her current research interests are tourism innovation and experience design, especially relating to the youth and Chinese tourism markets.

Specialties: tourism, consumer behaviour, economic development, marketing.

Kelly Hensley is an experienced tourism professional with more than 20 years in regional destinations, industry development and program delivery. As Operations Manager at Outback Queensland Tourism Association, she leads whole-of-region projects in destination planning, marketing and agritourism, working with councils, industry and government to align local needs with state and national priorities. She previously spent 12 years with Tourism and Events Queensland managing the ATDW and has held senior roles in resort operations and regional marketing.

With over 25 years’ experience in the travel industry, Kate Shilling is on a mission to generate economic growth in regional Australia through the development, distribution and delivery of innovative tourism experiences to local visitors as well as to travellers from further afield.

Kate’s CV includes leadership roles at Flight Centre (in Australia and the USA), Tourism NT, Territory Discoveries, NRMA Travel, Qantas Holidays, Helloworld and Australian Traveller Media. Currently the Executive Officer of Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia (UWEA), Kate is the founder of Family History Holidays, an Ambassador for Australian Regional Tourism, and recently stepped down as the Chair of Destination Riverina Murray after 5 years on the Board.

Kate launched Straightforward Tourism Solutions in March 2017 and has recently worked on a range of side projects including establishing a Dinosaur Tourism Collective in outback Queensland and assessing ag-tourism grant funding applications for the Tasmanian Tourism Innovation Program.

With many STOs and RTOs currently launching agritourism strategies, taking farm tourism forward in a practical way is a particular area of focus for Kate in 2324! Discussions about the different ways to connect emerging and existing agritourism operators, collectively driving positive commercial outcomes community by community are underway!

Kate is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and on the Advisory Board of The Sigmund Project, travel and tourism’s first digital not-for-profit, dedicated to innovation and collaboration and open to anyone who has a great idea to advance the global tourism industry.

I am a results-oriented Tourism Professional with more than two decades of experience driving tourism growth and enhancing visitor experiences through award-winning initiatives. I am passionate about developing and growing tourism in regional Australia, having worked in communities for local governments from Birdsville and Mildura to my current role in St George for Balonne Shire Council.

My journey began as an adventurer and storyteller, serving as a guidebook author for the likes of Lonely Planet, where I authored and contributed to guidebooks across Africa and Eastern Europe, including South Africa, West Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Romania & Moldova. These experiences oHered me a profound understanding of the intricacies of tourism and the importance of creating authentic, engaging visitor experiences.

In my career as a Tourism Specialist for local government, I’ve had the privilege of working with a range of communities, from the remote yet iconic Birdsville and the Simpson Desert Racing Carnival to the vibrant regional hubs of Mildura in Victoria and St George in Outback Queensland. Throughout my time in these roles, I’ve honed my skills in strategic planning, event management, and fostering relationships across all levels of government, tourism boards, and local communities.

Dedicated to enhancing visitor satisfaction and economic prosperity in regional destinations, my mission is to elevate communities, foster engagement, and create unforgettable experiences, ensuring every journey is an adventure worth remembering. I am eager to bring this passion and expertise to the Australian Regional Tourism Board, where I can contribute to the ongoing growth and success of regional tourism across our country.