The Board of the Young Tourism Export Council of New Zealand (YoungTEC) is delighted to announce that Charlotte Brady, ZORB Rotorua in the role of chair and Leanne Smith, WellingtonNZ has been appointed as vice chair.
“The Tourism Export Council NZ Board is thrilled that Charlotte Brady will take up the reign as chair of YoungTEC. Charlotte’s experience as a YoungTEC Board in 2021 has provided valuable input in YoungTEC’s key decisions and events during this challenging time. She has been a great advocate for YoungTEC, including the Rotorua region where she has led YoungTEC regional events to maintain this connection and positivity with their members.
"We’re also delighted to welcome Leanne Smith to the role of vice chair. Leanne’s experience and enthusiasm will support Charlotte and the YoungTEC Board in leading YoungTEC through 2022 and help continue to grow the legacy and business capability for future leaders of the industry.
Charlotte hales from Rotorua and in 2022 will be the only Rotorua based YoungTEC board member.
After completing a Bachelor of Communication Studies at Waikato University, Charlotte stepped into her first tourism role at Skyline Rotorua. This was followed by ZORB Rotorua as sales and marketing manager, where she is currently based and has worked for the past seven years. She prides herself on regular connection, leadership and networking with the local Rotorua tourism industry.
"First of all, I’d like to acknowledge and thank our outgoing chair, Zac Watson. Your leadership and guidance over the past couple of years has been invaluable and I feel extremely honoured to be stepping into the chair role for 2022 and continuing the extraordinary work of our previous board members. Next year will be a big year for our industry and it is vital that YoungTEC continues to provide a platform to educate and inspire the future generation of industry leaders," says Charlotte.
Leanne also comes from a strong tourism background where during her time studying Tourism and Commerce at Victoria University, she worked at Wellington i-SITE. Her love of the Wellington region has kept her career here and is working at WellingtonNZ as a tourism trade specialist.
“I have loved being part of the YoungTEC Board in 2021 and look forward to stepping into the vice chair role next year. I am very proud of how much we have been able to deliver for our members over the last year and I am excited to see what we can achieve in 2022. It is going to be a big year for our industry and the development of our young people will be more important than ever," says Leanne.
The YoungTEC Board for 2022 is Charlotte Brady (ZORB Rotorua), Leanne Smith (WellingtonNZ), Amanda Linklater (RealNZ), Tiaana Anaru (Tourism New Zealand), Sam Holdich (Wētā Workshop, Unleashed), Jason McKay Williams (iFLY Indoor Skydiving Queenstown), Grace Mitchell (Active Adventures).
