Tony Baker Appointed Chair As TPDD Welcomes New Faces

More than 40 people attended Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree’s (TPDD) annual general meeting on Thursday, October 17.
By: Tourism Port Douglas & Daintree
 
Oct. 22, 2013 - PRLog -- TPDD executive officer Doug Ryan said it was fantastic to see so many new and familiar faces as the Port Douglas and Daintree region wrapped up a really positive 2012/13 year.

“As the confidence in the market strengthens, we have had, not only some very successful marketing campaigns but opportunities to support excellent media and entertainment activities working closely with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ).

“Some of the highlights included working with TTNQ to help bolster the contestable funding applications which enabled TPDD to distribute Discover Paradise to a wider domestic market and into NZ.

“We also continued to develop our online space with campaigns with Wotif and Quickbeds along with continued work to increase website traffic that has produced some great results, including a 70% increase in unique visitors for the year.”

Mr Ryan said TPDD’s digital marketing activities also continued to expand with a consumer e-marketing database reaching over 34,000 people interested in the region, while the cruise and wedding markets continued to grow.

“The cruise market is one of the fastest growing markets in Australia and it continues to provide a good economic factor into the region with Cruise Down Under reporting $4.8m in direct expenditure into the Port Douglas cruise destination. The wedding market also continues to outperform each successive year with over 600 weddings in 2012/13.”

Mr Ryan said the performance of the region has been a big improvement on the previous few years with indicators showing that the 2013/14 year will be even better.

The AGM also saw Gordon Wellham retire as the Port Douglas zone director and chairman. Rhys Bawden of the Salsa Bar and Grill, has now taken on the role of the Port Douglas zone director.

Sheena Walshaw was also re-elected to her position as the Cape Tribulation Zone director. This will be her third term in this position, while Natalie Johnson also returns as a general director for her second term.

Subsequent to the AGM, not only was Tony Baker CEO of Quicksilver appointed as a director, but also as chairman. In addition Sheena Walshaw was appointed deputy chair and Tara Bennett as company secretary. They join directors Greg Erwin, Cr Julia Leu, and Brian Hennessy. The Board is considering other appointed directors positions to ensure there is balance of industry representation and these should be announced by the end of October.

“I am looking forward to working with the new board in the future and welcome the appointment of Tony Baker as Chair. Strategic planning is an important part of the future for TPDD and experience will strengthen the board and help to facilitate this,” Mr Ryan said.

For retiring chair Gordon Wellham he wished his successor the best of luck. “After three years in the role my time has come to a close. I sincerely thank my fellow board members, the executive team and the general membership of TPDD for their hard work and enthusiasm in promoting our wonderful tourism destination.

“Tropical North Queensland recorded the largest growth in international holiday visitors to Australia for the 2012/13 year, making the region Australia's most popular regional holiday destination for international visitors. It is very pleasing to report that Port Douglas Daintree led the regional growth.

“These positive outcomes are a great testament to the teams commitment, energy and resourcefulness.”

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Doug Ryan

Executive Officer

Tourism Port Douglas & Daintree

Phone:  07 4099 4588 / 0417794875

Email:  eo@visitportdouglasdaintree.com

Issued by Tanya Snelling, Strategic PR, 0417 202 663
End
Source:Tourism Port Douglas & Daintree
Email:***@strategicpr.com.au Email Verified
Tags:Tony Baker, Quicksilver, Port Douglas, Daintree, Queensland
Industry:Tourism, Lifestyle
Location:Australia
Subject:Executives
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