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.
Chris will be familiar to many as a he’s been a regular speaker at tourism conferences throughout New Zealand.
Karen has 30 years’ experience in the private and public sector and currently serves on the Board of Tourism Western Australia.
"Australia is a natural next step," says Tourism Talent New Zealand’s managing director Dylan Rushbrook.
"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 Dylan.
"The opportunity to become part of Tourism Talent was an easy decision," says Chris.
"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."
"I am beyond excited about joining the Tourism Talent team," says Karen.
"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.
"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," says Dylan.
"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."
