Judges
Our judges
A panel of highly experienced industry professionals judge the submissions. The decision of the Victorian Tourism Awards and Australian Tourism Awards judging panel is final.
Judges look for:
- A financially sound business.
- A thorough and sound business plan and an innovative marketing plan.
- Demonstrated flair, passion and innovation.
- A business that knows its customers and has a service culture.
- A business or individual that has made a significant contribution to the Victorian tourism industry.
- A passionate and innovative submission that clearly illustrates excellence in the tourism industry.
The Judges are:
Stuart Ord - Regional Manager, Parks Victoria (Chair of Judges)
Stuart has been a Regional Manager for Parks Victoria since 1998, initially managing the parks system in the east of the State, and more recently the more urban terrestrial and marine parks on and surrounding Port Phillip and Westernport Bays. This has exposed him to the many issues and complexities of balancing the needs of tourism related activities in both regional and urban environments.
A forester by training, Stuart spent five years in commercial forestry in the Otway Ranges prior to joining Melbourne Water in the management of water supply catchments and metropolitan recreational parks. He has been with Parks Victoria since its inception in 1996. He was awarded a Churchill Travelling Fellowship in 1998 giving him the opportunity to study National and Regional Park management and tourism services in Canada and in the USA.
Stuart is a previous judge of the Victorian Tourism Awards.
Clive Dwyer - Director of Business Development, MCEC
Clive Dwyer has over 23 years experience in the events and tourism industry, specialising in Brand Management, Destination Marketing and Major Events.
His previous roles include Marketing Manager at Mt Buller Ski Resort and General Marketing Manager at Tourism Victoria, delivering a range of marketing campaigns and major events programs through the 'You'll love every Piece of Victoria' Jigsaw campaign.
In his last role Clive was General Manager Tourism and International Marketing for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, the most succesful Commonwealth Games ever held, attracting over 120,000 visitors to Melbourne.
Clive is currently the Director of Business Development for the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), where construction is underway on what will be the largest combined convention and exhibition centre in Australasia when it opens for business in 2009.
Barbara Moss, General Manager, Queenscliff Music Festival
General Manager of the award-winning Queenscliff Music Festival, Barbara is passionate about the tourism industry's ability to provide the economic and cultural infrastructure essential for Victoria's development. Celebrating its 10th year in 2006, the Festival is one of Tourism Victoria's few Regional Hallmark Events. It has won Most Significant Festival and Event at the national level and is a Tourism Victoria Hall of Fame inductee.
Barbara has been involved in the Festival since its beginning and jointly ran three festivals before being appointed as the sole executive officer in 2005. Previously, she ran her own business, Marketing & Management Solutions and worked in the education sector for many years.
Mr Paul Matthews - Marketing & Metlink Relations Manager, Yarra Trams
Paul has been involved with the tourism and transport sectors for more than 15 years. He has been a past entrant with the world famous City Circle Tram taking out a major Victorian Tourism Award in 1997 in the General Tourism category and again as a finalist in 1998.
Paul has been with Yarra Trams since 1997 as head of the Marketing department responsible for developing and growing the tram business. Prior to this, Paul held management roles in a travel agency and the interstate coach sector.
By liaising with local government and various tourist attractions he helps to ensure that venues are cross marketed and well serviced by public transport. Paul also works closely with the organisers of all major events staged in Melbourne including the recent Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
In 2004, Paul was appointed to the Metlink Board. Metlink is owned by Connex and Yarra Trams, the private operators of Melbourne's train and tram network. Its other key stakeholders include V/Line Passenger, Bus Association Victoria and the State Government of Victoria. Metlink provides improved network-wide customer information about services, tickets and fares.
Rachael Scicluna - Hospitality and Tourism Manager, Yering Station
Having joined the team at Yering Station in 2000, Rachael Scicluna has played an integral role in the property's development from a brand-new hospitality offering to its position today as one of the country's most acclaimed wine tourism destinations.
Rachael's career in hospitality and tourism began on Hayman Island 12 years ago, and this role was followed by a position at ‘Max's' at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. Travelling and working throughout Europe in the late nineties further inspired her passion for the industry and in 1999 Rachael returned to the Hyatt.
Later that same year Yering Station completed the construction of its brand new wine tourism complex including a stunning wine bar restaurant. Rachael took up the opportunity to join the dynamic, young team, and was initially employed to establish the functions department. Moving into the position of hospitality manager, Rachael's responsibilities then expanded to the broader role of hospitality and tourism manager. She is now responsible for the property's entire tourism offering including cellar door and wine bar restaurant, functions and events managing a team of over 30 staff.
Bindi Gove - Manager, Tourism and Events Industry, VECCI
Bindi has worked in policy, planning and management of domestic tourism and economic development for several years in both New South Wales and Victoria. She currently heads up the newly developed tourism division of the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Bindi is a member of the Victorian Professionalism and Excellence Committee.
She has published a series of reports, fact sheets and discussion papers in the areas of tourism and public policy, visitor servicing, skills shortages, sustainable tourism and regional tourism.
Bindi is a frequent presenter at conferences, think tanks, seminars and lectures associated with the future of Australia's tourism industry. She has also influenced the research agenda for tourism in Australia.
2007 will be her second year as a judge in Victoria, she has previously been a regional tourism judge in Victoria and a NSW state tourism awards judge.
Graeme Haycraft
- Consultant, Haycraft Management
Graeme is a passionate Victorian whose roots in tourism can be traced right back to his childhood as his parents owned and operated a large and well known country guest house for more than three decades.
Graeme's career has seen him actively involved in the Australian tourism industry for nearly 30 years. He has held senior positions in both the private and public sectors including major tourism attractions, city tourism & convention authorities and state and Federal tourism commissions.
He worked as the Marketing Manager for Ballarat's Sovereign Hill Goldmining Township before joining the Melbourne Tourism Authority in early 1980. He then moved on to the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) and after working in both Melbourne and Sydney offices spent five years in London as Area Manager for UK & Ireland.
His career with the ATC culminated when he was appointed as Australian head of the ATC's marketing service operations.
Moving back to Victoria in the early 1990's Graeme provided tourism marketing and consultancy services to numerous Victorian and Australian tourism industry clients including Flag Hotels. In addition he worked for over 10 years as the Victorian Branch Manager of Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC).
Graeme will also be known to many tourism operators in regional Victoria as he spent many years undertaking the role of Independent Chairman for six Victorian Tourism Regions including Great Ocean Road, Goldfields, Yarra Valley, Dandenongs & The Ranges and Legends Wine & High Country.
Jenny Burns - Editor, Where Magazine
Jenny Burns is the editor of the consumer magazines Melbourne Where, Weekends for Two and Unique Places to Stay and contributes to several travel industry trade publications.
Jenny has a long association with Victoria’s tourism industry having worked in the media unit of the then Victorian Tourism Commission. Over the years her stories on Victoria have appeared in numerous consumer and trade publications in Australia and internationally.
Jenny holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, a Graduate Diploma in Education, a Graduate Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management and a Master of Arts (Communications).
Anthony McIntosh - CEO, Tourism Alliance Victoria
Anthony's qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (botany major) at the University of Melbourne, Diploma in Human Resources (Monash University), and a Master of Tourism (Monash University).
From 1993 he commenced working in the telecommunications sector in various human resources capacities, including project management and management consultant roles. A five year career with the City of Melbourne commenced in 2002 initially as a human resources consultant. A series of project roles followed, including managing the City's local laws team through structural change, and devising and implementing the 'Workforce Management Strategy' for Council's Commonwealth Games Unit. In June 2005, he moved into Council’s Tourism Melbourne team in the role of Program Manager Operations involving overseeing the City's seven visitor information programs, inclusive of the Melbourne Visitor Centre (Federation Square), the Melbourne Visitor Booth (Bourke Street Mall) and the City Ambassador Program.
Having commenced at Tourism Alliance Victoria in September 2007, Anthony sits on several industry Boards and committees inclusive of Australian Tourism Accreditation Program (Victoria, Chair), Outdoor Recreation Centre, Service Skills Victoria, Tourism Accreditation Australia Limited, and Monash University Tourism Research Advisory Board. He has also been appointed a mentor within the NMIT Mentoring Program.
Mark Challis - Director of Sales & Marketing, Rydges Bell City
Mark commenced his tourism and hospitality career at Ansett Australia as a corporate sales representative, he then moved to a product development role with flag International where he developed and launched Australia’s first frequent guest program in conjunction with the InnClub.
From Flag Mark was contracted by Tony Quint and associates as a consumer research project director. His clients included; National Australia Bank, Pioneer Electronics, Diners Club, Ansett and Federal hotels. Moving back into tourism and hospitality he was appointed National Conference Sales Manager with Hilton Hotels based in Melbourne.
Mark was then appointed Marketing Manager with the Federal Hotel Group in Tasmania in this role he played a pivotal role in reinvigorating Wrest Point ahead of 30th birthday celebrations including a new waterfront precinct development and marketing approach. He also developed a group marketing approach and structure to support a range of infrastructure acquisitions including Gordon River Cruises, the West Coast Wilderness Railway and Frecinet Lodge.
Over the past 4 years Mark has run his own marketing consultancy his clients included; Tourism Tasmania, Book Australia, TDR V8 Supercar team, Tourism Council Tasmania, Hobart city council and the Solis Greg Norman golf development - projects included the development of a 10 year plan for tourism in Tasmania and a review of tourism accreditation.
He holds a Marketing Degree is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute and a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM). He has contributed to many tourism related advisory committees and chaired 2 tourism regions; he is a Victorian tourism awards judge.
Mark has a unique and valuable blend of tourism, hospitality and venue knowledge combined with both corporate and consulting marketing experience – his appointment as Director of Sales and Marketing at the new Rydges Bell City development adds an invaluable resource in the lead up to project completion and launch.
Paul Baumgartner - National Manager of the Australian Star Rating Scheme, AAA Tourism
Paul has extensive experience in the travel and tourism sector having worked in the North America, United Kingdom and Europe holding senior management positions within the UK's largest travel company. During this time Paul was responsible for the product development and overseas operations for the UK's two largest snow sports holiday brands, including the management of over 30 hotels and almost 200 catered chalets. Both companies enjoyed considerable success over this period, winning numerous industry awards.
More recently Paul moved back to Australia joining AAA Tourism as the National Manager of the Australian STAR Rating scheme. This scheme is provided by the Australian Auto Clubs and is the official STAR Rating scheme for approximately 10,000 accommodations of various types and styles across Australia and Fiji. AAA Tourism also provides the Auto Clubs' Accommodation and Tourist Park Guides and manages the content of their accommodation websites.
Rod Newnham – Regional Manager, Parks Victoria West
Rod has been involved in protected area management for his whole career and has worked in many parts of the state. He is currently regional manager for the West of the state which includes some of Victoria’s most significant national parks - the Grampians National Park, Port Campbell National Park (12 Apostles), the new marine parks, the Mallee parks and the new Great Otway National Park.
Prior to taking on the Regional Manager role in 2006 Rod was the Director of Capital Infrastructure for Parks Victoria. In this role he was responsible for the delivery of many tourism facilities and supporting infrastructure including jetties and piers around the bay, the rebuilding of StKilda pier kiosk and the construction of the Brambuk National Park and Cultural centre at Halls Gap.
Rod has a passion for eco tourism and has been involved both in managing some of the states most important natural attractions and the supporting infrastructure that the tourism industry relies upon. He has been a board member for Lakes and Wilderness and Grampians Inc. which has given him an insight into the broader tourism issues in rural and regional Victoria. Rod has been involved in building partnerships with indigenous communities, particularly at Halls Gap where the significant partnership with Brambuk provides tourism, employment, and educational opportunities.
This is Rod’s second year as a judge on the Victorian tourism awards.
Ian Martin - Marwood
Ian Martin started his working life in tourism as an assistant purser with the Orient line in the late 1950’s, which is when he fell in love with Australia and decided to settle here, finally arriving as a permanent resident in 1969.
After a few years working as an accountant he moved into a marketing position with BP Australia and spent three years in Papua New Guinea before moving to Victoria in 1978 and starting his own retail business.
In 1988 he went back to his first love of tourism and, with his partner Irene, bought a motel in the Grampians. Nine years later they opened Marwood, the first boutique accommodation in Regional Victoria to obtain a five-star rating from the RACV.
Marwood won the Victorian Tourism Award for Best New Tourism Development in 1998 and has entered awards on a number of occasions, twice being a Victorian State Ffinalist in the Telstra Small Business Awards.
Ian was intimately involved in the foundation of the Halls Gap Tourism & Business Association, Chaired the Northern Grampians Shire Tourism Development Committee and spent three years as National Secretary and Victorian President of the Hotel Motel & Accommodation Association.
Now semi-retired, he is looking forward to the opportunity of continuing to make a contribution to the industry that he loves.
Maggie Maguire
Maggie Maguire
Maggie started her career as a Drama teacher but moved on to build (literally) and operate her own restaurant in
In 1991, Maggie started her own company, assisting a vast range of community arts, cultural and tourism activities, with a core focus on festivals and events. Maggie was the Executive Producer of Melbourne's Australia Day Celebrations for 5 years and her company also produced aspects of The Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay. For many years, Maggie produced the annual Australian Festival & Event Conference.
After that gig, Maggie stopped producing events and developed a service as an Event Strategist, consulting to state and local government agencies, cultural organisations, businesses and not for profit groups. She provided advice and leadership assistance in the areas of strategic & business planning, marketing, cultural tourism, funding, community cultural development and industry sustainability.
During those years, she also performed a number of voluntary roles in the arts community. She is a long term Board member of the Frankston Arts Centre. She chaired two of Arts
Eventually Maggie 'went to the other side' and joined the State Government as a Senior Manager with Arts Victoria. She had not been in that role for very long when she was offered the opportunity to head up the team developing the new Abbotsford Convent arts and cultural precinct in Melbourne. As the role utilised all of the various sectors Maggie has worked within over the years, she relished the chance to make a truly significant contribution to the cultural fabric of Melbourne and Victoria.
Maggie is currently Chair of the City of Yarra's Arts and Cultural Advisory panel, a member of the Australia Day (Vic) Committee and a member of Metro Arts Brisbane's national programming committee.
Maggie is also the inaugural member of the Australian Festival & Event industry's 'Hall Of Fame'.
Kate Robertson - Education Coordinator, Tourism & Hospitality, Gordon Institute of TAFE
Having worked in tourism for 13 years, Kate’s held a variety of positions in Victoria and overseas. Initially Kate spent 12 months working in France for a tour wholesaler (Australie a La Carte) who specialise in Australia as a destination for French and other European markets.
Kate then spent 9 years becoming well acquainted with 2 jigsaw pieces, Macedon Ranges and Spa Country and the
Kate now spends her time teaching tourism at the Gordon Institute of TAFE and managing sustainable tourism projects for the Environment Unit of The City of Greater Geelong.
David Renouf - Consultant
David Renouf has been involved with four Tourism Award entries including three winning entries in the Victorian Tourism Awards, a Hall of Fame award and two winning entries in the Australian Tourism Awards.
David worked as the Marketing and Development Manager for the Friendly Group for six years, managing marketing and market development for the chain of backpacker hostels, travel agents and entertainment venues.
More recently David worked for HotHouse Media and Events managing publicity for prominent Melbourne events Art Melbourne 08 and the State of Design Festival including the Premier's Design Awards.
David has a passion for Victoria and tourism and believes in the value of the awards process and supporting the local tourism industry.
Kathryn Mackenzie – Executive Manager, Tourism & Events, Bendigo Tourism
Kathryn is currently Executive Manager of Tourism with the City of
Kathryn is a member of the Goldfields Campaign Committee and has been on this Board since 2001. Previous to this, (1996 -2001), she was on the Board of Country Victorian Tourism Council and assisted in the development of the accreditation program for Visitor Information Centres. During this time she was involved with the review of the role of local Government in tourism and the re-structure of the Regional Co-operative Marketing Campaign.
The time spent in tourism has been one of the most exciting and challenging of her professional career.
Julie O'Brien - Project Manager, Business, Innovation & Technology, Sustainability Victoria
Julie O'Brien is the Program Manager for Industry Partnerships at Sustainability
Julie is also the SV Project Manager for Carbon Down, a Victorian Government initiative with VECCI to help reduce the carbon emissions of small and medium sized businesses.
Previous roles in
Qualifications include BSc. Marine & Freshwater Biology and MSc. Environmental Science.
Jacquie Prentice – General Manager, The Casey Group
Jacquie is General Manager of The Casey Group, a prominent property developer and operator of retirement living.
Previous roles across 17 years in the hospitality industry most recently included General Manager Commercial Services and Development for YWCA Victoria, with responsibility for planning, development and operations of Jasper Hotel.
With a strong focus on the development aspect of the industry, Jacquie has more recently been involved in the planning, development and pre opening of tourism product in regional Victoria.
She has a passion for the tourism industry, in particular supporting innovation and excellence. A strong link to Tourism Awards has been created through the preparation of numerous state and national award winning submissions for Jasper Hotel, including Finalist in 2007 for New Tourism Development.
She has been an active contributor to the tourism industry, holding various Board and Committee roles. Jacquie is a previous judge of the Victorian Tourism Awards.
Qualifications include a Bachelor of Business Hospitality Management and Graduate Diploma of Business from Victoria University.
