As Executive General Manager International (East) based in Sydney office, Richard Beere is responsible for managing Tourism Australia’s overseas operations across the key regions of Asia, Japan, and the Gulf Countries. 

The role involves management of key tourism flow issues, global partnerships and distribution development, market intelligence and knowledge as well as day to day involvement with Tourism Australia’s international offices.

Richard has had 24 years experience in the tourism industry, encompassing all aspects of retail, marketing, product development, destination promotion, trade event management, business tourism, management and operations.

He has held marketing and management positions with the Australian Tourist Commission (now known as Tourism Australia) in Sydney, Singapore, New York and Hong Kong.  Richard also had five years in senior executive management positions with TNT Express Worldwide in Asia and Australia.

Richard is currently Immediate Past Chairman of PATA

Based in Singapore, Scott Blume leads Asia Pacific's leading online travel company, ZUJI.

Scott is responsible for ZUJI's overall business and future growth strategies.

Scott has more than 30 years' experience of business management in the leisure, corporate and online travel industry for listed and privately held companies. He joined ZUJI as Chief Executive Officer in January 2003.

Scott brought with him to ZUJI a legacy of successful business leadership, and he has a travel and financial management career pedigree. Scott's prior posts included direct responsibility and broad strategic involvement for businesses in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, America and Europe. His depth of experience in the area of travel commerce is unrivalled in Asia Pacific as his scope of knowledge includes online travel, corporate travel, MICE and traditional bricks and mortar travel chains.

Prior to joining ZUJI, Scott was Managing Director of Australian-listed company ITG Limited (formerly known as Internet Travel Group) where he was also responsible for the Group's three operating businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

In July 2005 Scott was appointed as a Director of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), a role he has retained thereafter; and has held various other Board and membership positions in travel and commerce.

Geoff was appointed as Managing Director of Tourism Australia on 8 November 2006. Geoff joined Tourism Australia in October 2004 as the Director, Strategy and Research with the responsibility for driving the development of Tourism Australia's Strategy, Planning and Research.

Before joining Tourism Australia, Geoff was Executive Director of Marketing and Communications for Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA), where he led the marketing activities to position Sydney Olympic Park as a visitor destination to the leisure, business events and education markets, both internationally and domestically.

Prior to this Geoff held a number senior positions with Tourism New South Wales including Director Strategy and Alliances, where he was responsible for driving their strategic direction including brand development, marketing planning, major events development, and corporate and business planning.

Geoff has also gained experience as a researcher with Frank Small and Associates and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and has Bachelor of Economics from the University of New England, Armidale.

QUALIFICATIONS:                     Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Commerce (Melb.)

Andrew Burnes was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne and graduated from Melbourne University in 1984 with degrees in Law and Commerce.

After completing Articles and working as a solicitor at Blake Dawson Waldron, Andrew started Australian Outback Travel, now The AOT Group, in 1988 and has been the Managing Director / CEO since. Over the last 20 years, the business has grown from being a small regional safari operator into Australia & New Zealand’s leading travel distribution businesses with 340 staff throughout Australia & New Zealand and annual revenues in excess of $350 million.

Andrew is also a Deputy Chairman of Tourism Australia (since 2004) and a Trustee of the Travel Compensation Fund (since 2005). He chaired the Prime Ministers Tourism Industry Working Group in 2001-2002 and was Chairman of The Australian Tourism Export Council (“ATEC”) from 1999 to 2003.

Rod Cuthbert first heard the Latin word for 'traveler' in high school. In 1995 he co-founded a company focused on building websites for travel companies, but it took him another four years to convince his colleagues that Latin names were cool, and to rename the company Viator. Soon after the name change, Rod and the team at Viator saw the opportunity to bring together a wide array of quality destination activities and began forging relationships with local tour operators around the world, creating a single location where consumers could research and purchase destination activities, sightseeing tours and attraction passes before they travel. Before launching Viator, Rod spent more than 20 years in the U.S. and Australian IT industries, including senior positions at NCR Corporation and Digital Equipment. Rod started his entrepreneurial career in the mid-80s with a successful PC retail store in Melbourne.

Paul Donovan is the Chief Operating Officer of the Gold Coast Airport he has spent 30 years in the Aviation Industry working with Ansett, Qantas and Air New Zealand in a range of senior roles from Sales Marketing through to General Management which included Airport and Terminal Management.  He has a deep understanding of the Aviation Industry in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific and uses his ability to leverage this with our Airline partners and Industry Stakeholders.

Paul is on the Board of the Gold Coast Tourism and has held several Board positions with Airline subsidiary businesses including an alternate Director on the Board of Air Pacific.

Mr Peter de Jong, President and CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), is responsible for providing visionary leadership for the Association and overseeing the delivery of commercially-relevant services to enhance the sustainable growth, value and quality of Asia Pacific travel and tourism for the benefit of PATA members. He is based at the PATA head office in Bangkok.

Prior to joining PATA in November 2001, Mr de Jong served for 10 years as Director General of the Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations (FIYTO), the global trade association for the youth and student travel industry. Under Mr de Jong’s leadership, FIYTO experienced a decade of unparalleled growth of its membership, its global recognition and its financial resources.

A Dutch national and speaker of six languages, Mr de Jong was educated in Europe and in the United States, pursuing studies in the fields of journalism, English language and literature.

Founded in 1951, PATA is the recognised authority on Asia Pacific travel and tourism. The Association provides marketing, research and educational opportunities to a membership of nearly 100 government, state and city tourism bodies, over 55 airlines and cruise lines, and many hundreds of travel industry companies. In addition, thousands of travel professionals belong to over 30 PATA Chapters worldwide.

Stephen is a partner in KPMG's Indirect Taxes practice in Sydney and a member of the Tax Office's Tourism and Hospitality Industry Partnership.

On behalf of the industry, he and his KPMG team have been involved in negotiating revised GST rules to harmonise them with other tax and regulatory reporting requirements.

Stephen also oversees KPMG's tax lobbying practice which has achieved major successes for the tourism sector over recent years.

Rob Gurney has more than 20 years' experience in commercial aviation gained with two of the world's leading airlines, Qantas and British Airways.

He was appointed to the role of Sales and Distribution for Qantas Airlines in October 2003. In this role, he is responsible for the airline's sales divisions worldwide, covering all Qantas Australian and overseas regional sales offices, as well as telephone sales, corporate travel (including Qantas Business Travel, Australia’s largest business travel agency) and online sales through the Qantas website, qantas.com.

Key areas of responsibility include delivery of the airline's global revenue target, sales and distribution strategy and international marketing, as well as overall human resources accountability for the Sales and Distribution department of 3,300 staff.

Rob joined Qantas in 1982 where he developed broad commercial and operational experience before moving to British Airways in 1993 to take on a variety of sales and marketing roles. 

He rejoined Qantas in 1997, and his positions included Manager UK, Europe and South East Asia, where he was responsible for pricing strategy and route inventory for those regions, and General Manager Joint Services Agreement, which involved managing the alliance relationship between Qantas and British Airways.

Matt was appointed as ATEC Managing Director and started in the role in January 2005.

Prior to this he was Chief of Staff to the Hon Joe Hockey MP, the former Australian Tourism Minister who produced the Tourism White Paper.

As the Minister’s senior political adviser Matt was responsible for the development and implementation of his strategic approach to political and policy issues.    He was the key link between the industry and the Government during the development of the White Paper. 

Prior to this Matt’s previous roles included General Manager, Public Affairs with the Tourism Task Force, as well as a policy advisor role with the NSW Minerals Council and various roles within NSW Government over nine years as adviser to the NSW Parliamentary Liberal Party team. 

He is married with three sons and one daughter and lives on the NSW Central Coast.

As Managing Director of Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB), Mr Jon Hutchison draws on more than 30 years experience in the tourism industry gained in some of the country's leading tourism and travel organisations.

Prior to his appointment as head of the Sydney Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB), Jon Hutchison held the position of Managing Director of the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) from 1992 to 1996. In co-operation with industry colleagues, he developed the ATC's Partnership Australia and the highly successful Brand Australia campaigns which received more than 30 industry awards. In this role, he was also honoured with the Federal Tourism Minister's Special Award in 1996 for his outstanding contribution to Australian tourism marketing.

Jon Hutchison took up the position of Managing Director of SCVB in November 1996, and also heads the NSWCB since December 1998. He was attracted by the opportunity to increase awareness of Sydney and NSW as the world's leading meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) region and to capitalise on opportunities presented by Sydney the Host city for the Olympics. His focus is on strengthening Sydney and NSW’s position in the high-yield business tourism sector.

Under Jon Hutchison’s stewardship, the SCVB placed Sydney in the top 5 world convention cities, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). The SCVB has subsequently confirmed about $2 billion worth of meetings business for Sydney and New South
Wales since 1996.

Prior to joining the ATC, Hutchison was General Manager of Ansett Express Airlines, which in 1991/92 was the fastest growing passenger airline in Australia. His career also includes eight years as General Manager and Director of Air New South Wales during which time he played a key role in the establishment of the Southern Cross/Galileo computer reservation systems.

Jon Hutchison's national and international reputation is reflected in his appointment to oversee the creation of a national tourism strategy for Australia to provide the basis for the Federal Government's National Tourism Plan, to help the growth of the industry to 2005. Jon Hutchison was also elected 1997/98 Chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) - the largest tourism membership organisation in the world, and nominated South Pacific Person of the Year by US Travel Agent magazine.

In 2006, Jon Hutchison was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to tourism and business through promoting Australia as a travel destination and in leadership and advisory roles
with industry organisations.

Jon Hutchison is an Adjunct Professor, School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Faculty of Business at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and is Chair of Australian Centre for Event Management Advisory Board UTS, sits on the Tourism Task Force Board of Governors and is a Member of the NSW Tourism Industry Forum.

During the 2005/2006 financial year, Jon was the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), and is the first Australian to Chair the organisation in its 90 year history.

He holds degrees in commerce and accounting from Melbourne University and is an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants, a member of the Australian Institute of Management, and has studied Advanced Management at the Melbourne University Business School.

Martin Kelly is a leading industry journalist who has been covering the online travel marketing and distribution space since 1999 through the traveltrends.biz website. He also produces the annual TRAVELtech, No Vacancy and Search Engine Room conferences and reports on the rapidly growing search marketing industry through Search Engine Room News. In addition, Martin regularly writes on hotels and tourism for The Australian newspaper and does some occasional PR consulting and website development

Professor Geoffrey Lipman is Assistant Secretary-General of UNWTO.  He is Chair of Green Globe 21 the sustainable tourism group & Green Global Village, its consultancy arm. He is President of the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) – a platform connecting socially responsible tourism organizations and people. He is a Board Member of Armstrong Hospitality Group. He is Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Gold Coast Australia. and is Senior Tourism Research Fellow at George Washington University USA

He was the first President of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the global business leaders’ forum.  Between 1990 and 1999, he shaped its agenda and the positioning of Travel and Tourism as the world’s largest industry, as well as its Millennium Vision for open markets, elimination of barriers and sustainable development.

Geoffrey Lipman spent 20 years with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), where he was Executive Director and Head of Government Affairs, later as Executive Director of IFAPA, a foundation representing passengers and as partner in Global Aviation Associates, a strategic airline consultancy specialising in government relations and competition matters.

He has written and lectured around the world on tourism strategy, sustainability and airline liberalization, co-authored books on opening up European Aviation and established a Think Tank on Free Trade in the Air. He was a member of two European Union High Level Commissions - on Airline Liberalization and on Tourism Employment - as well as a member of the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Development.  He was a Member of the President of Zambia’s Business Advisory Council and the Ethiopia Think Tank. He has served as Tourism Envoy for the Administrator of the UNDP, the Commonwealth Business Council and the World Economic Forum.

During his travel and tourism career Geoffrey Lipman has:

- Made contributions to the airline industry liberalization in the North Atlantic/ European markets, testified before congressional and parliamentary committees in the US and Europe, helped draft the GATS Annex on Aviation Services and created the concept of “Essential Tourism Development Services” eventually adopted by the ICAO Council.

- Helped spearhead Industry thinking on Sustainable Development - attending both Earth Summits, led the industry delegation to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, initiated the first sectoral analysis of Agenda 21, created the GREEN GLOBE program and Mondial/Global Renewable Energy. 

- Encouraged the widespread industry and government recognition of the economic significance of the tourism sector - overseeing pioneering private sector work on international statistical accounting systems, directing more than 20 studies of regional and national economies presenting results to Ministers, Heads of Government and media.

- Led tourism industry delegations to meet with the Foreign Minister of China, the US Secretary of Commerce, the UK Secretary of Culture and the President of the European Commission, etc.

- Chaired a SADC Leaders session with the cabinet of former Congo President Kabila, hosted a World Economic Forum session for President Arafat and Foreign Minister Peres, given annual National Economic Lectures in India and the Seychelles and chaired two post 9/11 recovery Think Tanks with KPMG as well as the 2004 and 2005 Commonwealth Tourism Forum.

- Conceived the UNWTO’s ST-EP program designed to apply Sustainable Tourism to the Elimination of Poverty – described by Koffi Annan as the tourism sector’s key contribution to the Millennium Development Goals

An acclaimed futurist, Richard Neville is an innovative, thought-provoking and humorous speaker, whose talent lies in his ability to spot trends that will influence consumer behaviour, buying patterns and business in the years ahead.

Described in Who’s Who as a social commentator, author and stirrer, Richard has been involved with challenging and changing the ways we think, since his student days in the Sixties when he published and edited the magazine, Oz – his first act of futurism. It landed him in jail and gave Australia its nickname.

Since that time, Richard has regularly hit the headlines with a dazzling range of subjects from cyber sex, smart drugs and serial killers; to globalisation, the re-invention of work, the consciousness movement; and most recently, on the new role for business in the 21st Century, the revived focus on human potential, and how to hot-house creativity.

As co-founder of the Australian Futures Foundation, Richard encourages individuals and organizations to engage the future, decoding the patterns and clues from the tidal waves of info-glut. He urges people to leapfrog "future shock" by tilting their beams of foresight - to be pro-active and avoid becoming the victim of someone else's agenda. He believes it’s easier to create the future than predict the future.

Richard has written for an array of publications including The New York Times, Punch, and Nation
Review. He also wrote a regular column on ethics for Australian Business Monthly during the 90’s and
most recently a series of major essays on Colonising the Future and the Joys and Sorrows of Globalisation.

His best-selling books include Playpower, an insider's view of the youth culture, which accurately
predicted the pre-eminence of computers in the workplace, and The Life & Crimes of Charles Sobhraj
which won a confession from the killer and unravelled the fate of his victims.

On television, Richard was a commentator on cultural and consumer affairs for The Midday Show where
he pioneered environmental issues and took film crews to Europe, Asia and the US in search of the
significant and futuristic. He also created and hosted the Channel 10 programme Extra Dimensions, a
series which focused on human potential, trends, environmentalism and the emerging issue of social
responsibility in business.

Working with business, industry, government, communities and education, Richard believes everyone
should be a futurist because of today’s accelerating pace of change.

Philip Noonan is the Head of the Tourism Division in the Australian Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources.  Philip started his public service career in the federal Attorney-General's Department, where he worked on legal policy issues, including human rights, freedom of information and company law.  In 1996, he joined his current Department, where he has been responsible for a number of areas, including consumer affairs, small business and corporate services.

Anna Pollock is a strategist, futurist and change agent who has spent over 35 years applying her insights to tourism. Recognized by the tourism industry in Canada as a "visionary", her passion is helping destinations face and cope with change. Two areas of focus include disruptive information technologies and the impact of growth on tourism's future.  Anna is President of DestiCorp, an international tourism consultancy and founder of The Icarus Foundation - a Canadian based not-for-profit  designed to help tourism face the climate change challenge.

Don Richter is Director of Marketing at Tourism Victoria where he has been responsible for the last 13 years for Victoria’s hugely successful “You’ll love every piece of Victoria” Jigsaw campaign.

Don is responsible for Tourism Victoria’s corporate communications.  He is passionate about the emergence of online marketing as a powerful new marketing tool.

For the last 3 years Tourism Victoria’s website visitvictoria.com has consistently ranked as the most highly visited State Tourism Commission website in Australia.

Don is Chairman of the National Online Strategy Committee and the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse.

He has degrees in Electronic Engineering, Philosophy and Business Administration and in 2005 was awarded the Australian Marketing Institute’s Marketer of the Year award.

As Managing Director for Amadeus IT Pacific based in Sydney, Tim Russell is responsible for all aspects of Amadeus' interests in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Formerly the Director of Market Management for Amadeus Asia Pacific based in Bangkok, Russell brings to his position a wealth of management experience in the industry. Actively involved at a senior executive and strategic level in the marketing of Amadeus throughout Asia Pacific, Russell's responsibilities included management of the region's largest and fastest growing Global Distribution System (GDS) with 900 staff across more than 60 fully integrated offices in 34 Asia Pacific markets. Before moving to Asia Pacific, Tim worked for Amadeus as Regional Market Manager for North and Central America.

Prior to joining Amadeus, he held various positions with American Airlines and other Global Distribution Systems in Europe.

Russell leads an established team of over 100 highly experienced professionals in five offices (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Auckland) and has a particular interest in ensuring travel agencies make maximum use of technology to improve efficiencies, productivity and revenue.

Jason joined Lonely Planet in February 2003 in the role of Global Product Marketing Manager.

Jason has held a number of positions in the media industry.  Most recently he held the position of Brand Marketing Manager at Sensis and prior to this he worked at Fairfax as Commercial Marketing Manger, The Age.  He also served as a marketing analyst for the Herald Sun newspaper for several years.

Jason has a Masters in Business from RMIT University in Melbourne and has attended several management courses of the past few years including Asian Business Strategy at Instead University in Singapore and Leadership for the Future at Australian Institute of Management.  

Ian Vanderbeek commenced his aviation career in 1980.  He has extensive experience in operational and senior managerial roles in airlines in Papua New Guinea, Africa and Europe.  He has held the role of chief pilot, senior training captain, and head of safety for a number of airlines, and was managing director of UK charter airline British World Airlines and Sydney based executive operator, ExecuJet.  In 2004 he joined ExpressJet Asia to oversee the company’s expansion into regional airline operations in Asia, with a particular emphasis on China.

Andrew Woodward has over two decades of experience in communications for business, government, politics and the media.

At Visa International, Andrew is the Director of Corporate Relations for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific. Andrew’s job is to communicate the value of Visa to a wide audience, including politicians, government, media, the finance sector, retailers, tourism industry and the wider business community. Andrew is also a member of Visa Asia Pacific’s Corporate Communications project for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing. Visa is a worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic movements.

Andrew has worked in strategic communications, public affairs, issues management, media management, marketing communications, crisis communications, government relations, stakeholder relations and project management in high profile environments in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. Andrew’s entry into the financial services industry in late 2004 follows a career specializing in major events, tourism, infrastructure and transport, based on solid experience as a senior broadcast journalist.

As a consultant in tourism, Andrew worked for the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on the Bali tourism recovery and development program (following the terrorist attack in October 2002) and for the Government of Papua New Guinea on international tourism communications development and management. In major events, Andrew advised and worked for the Australian Rugby Union on Rugby World Cup 2003 and consulted to Football Federation Australia on the launch of its new Trans-Tasman competition.

Prior to consulting, Andrew was the Corporate Affairs Manager at the Australian Tourist Commission, which promoted Australia as the world’s best tourism destination. During 2000 he was seconded to the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games to manage the Media Information Group at the Main Press Centre. From 1995 to 1997, he was the media adviser on the personal staff of the President of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Minister for the Olympics, Roads and Public Works, the Hon. Michael Knight MP. Andrew was also public affairs manager for Sydney's Olympics Bid. He also has experience in national politics, working as an adviser in the Keating Government and as bureau chief at the national parliament for the Australian Radio Network.

Andrew has tertiary qualifications in marketing and financial services and is currently undertaking a Master of Business and Technology at University of New South Wales.