Wild About Wellington: Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

The conference is to be held at the Brentwood Hotel, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand from 24th to 27th June 2010.

The theme is: "POSITIVELY PROFESSIONAL HOSTING - Taking a professional approach to your B&B business."

This will be a conference for everyone with an interest in quality guest and hosted hospitality. See the Schedule for an overview of the programme.

Leading speakers will address key topics of importance to the B&B sector. In addition to keynote addresses there will be 8 workshops, covering a variety of topics, which will provide the opportunity for small group discussion and delegate participation.

The themes for the keynote addresses will be "Where is New Zealand Tourism Heading?" and "Positively Professional Hosting".

Keynote Speakers:

	KERRY MARSHALL MBE, JP Kerry Marshall is the current Mayor of Nelson and still enjoying his successful career in local government. Previously a teacher, Kerry has dedicated many years of service to local government; the first Mayor of Tasman District, past President of LGNZ (the national body representing all councils) and he completed a four year stint on the Local Government Commission. Currently, Kerry is the Chair of the I-SITe visitor information Network Board and is a member of the NZ Geographic Board. He was the previous chair of NZ Conservation Authority and he has just finished as a Councillor of the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT). Locally, Kerry chairs the WOW Development Trust and Tasman Environment Trust. He is well known in the community for his astute leadership and generous nature.
	David Wilks, General Manager Tourism Development David Wilks and his team at Tourism New Zealand are responsible for helping to ensure the New Zealand tourism industry delivers a quality experience to our international visitors that lives up to their expectations. His responsibilities include Tourism New Zealand's subsidiary commitments, Qualmark (New Zealand tourism's official quality accreditation system) and the i-SITE Visitor Information Network (the membership organisation supporting New Zealand's i-SITE centres). David is an Executive Manager of i-SITE New Zealand and chairs the Qualmark Board of Directors. David also manages the Māori development team, responsible for driving Tourism New Zealand's internal capability in this area as well as helping to develop aspects of New Zealand's Māori tourism sector, and is involved with a number of other industry development initiatives.
	Matthew Mayne, Chief Executive, Jasons Travel Media Matthew Mayne has an extensive online media background and has held the role of Chief Executive for Jasons Travel Media since October 2008. Prior to this he held a variety of senior online positions in the United Kingdom including roles at British Telecom and Racing UK. His most recent role prior to Jasons was as General Manager of The Betting Site, an online joint venture which included Britain’s terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 as a shareholder. Matthew is an honours graduate in Commerce and Marketing from Victoria University.
View Presentation	Paul Yeo is Chief Executive of the Inbound Tour Operators Council of NZ (ITOC) and The Travel Agents Association of NZ (TAANZ) Paul is the Chief Executive of two New Zealand national tourism trade associations - the Travel Agents’ Association of NZ (TAANZ) which represents over 400 travel agents and outbound tour operators and the Inbound Tour Operators Council of NZ (ITOC) which represents over 300 Inbound Tour Operators and product suppliers, thus providing a unique outlook on both inbound and outbound travel distribution. Previously he was involved in regional tourism for almost ten years, as Chief Executive of Regional Tourism Organisations in Marlborough and Lake Taupo and was Chairman of RTONZ – Regional Tourism Organisations NZ – which represents the views of the 30 New Zealand RTOs. Prior to that he was involved with tourism at a national level, working with Tourism New Zealand and its predecessor organisations for over 20 years in various marketing roles and locations in New Zealand and Australia including a stint as Private Secretary to the New Zealand Minister of Tourism.
View Presentation Video 1 Video 2	Tim Cossar, Chief Executive, Tourism Industry Association (TIA) Tim Cossar was appointed as the new Chief Executive of TIA in May 2008 and started his new role with TIA July 2008. Previous to this, Tim was Chief Executive of Positively Wellington Tourism and had a strong background in the tourism industry. Tim was Chief Executive of Positively Wellington Tourism from January 2002 and was instrumental in developing the award-winning ‘Have a Love Affair with Wellington’ campaign. Prior to that, Tim was Chief Executive of the QEII National Trust and General Manager of Tourism Rotorua (now Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing). Tim has also served on numerous event strategy and industry steering groups, including chairing the Regional Tourism Organisations of New Zealand (RTONZ) and being a member of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy Ministerial Advisory Group. Tim says he wants to ensure TIA is recognised as a central player and valued contributor to tourism development and growth in New Zealand. Essential to this is ensuring the collective views of a very diverse industry are as well represented as possible in the wider community as well as political environments.