TIANZ New CEO

A TIANZ Quality Appointment! The Board of the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIANZ) is delighted to announce Fiona Luhrs will take up the position of Chief Executive of the Association. Ms Luhrs has extensive experience in tourism and business and is currently Chief Executive of Qualmark, the New Zealand tourism industry’s quality assurance agency. In taking up the role Ms Luhrs says “The challenge I see ahead for TIANZ is to communicate to New Zealanders how tourism can add considerable opportunity and value to their local communities. As long as the growth process is jointly managed in a sustainable way we will achieve our goal of maintaining our position as a world class visitor destination. “I will be leading a process of asking what the industry organisation for New Zealand’s largest export sector should look like, how it should be funded, how it should behave, where it should be seen, what value should it deliver its members, and how it should interact with key stakeholders. I can’t wait to get into it!” TIANZ executive staff has today welcomed the Board’s appointment and looks forward to Ms Luhrs leading the team from October. Until then it is business as usual at TIANZ. Ms Luhrs’ appointment follows the resignation of current Chief Executive, John Moriarty in April. Please see Ms Luhrs biography attached. A photo is available on request.

Fiona Luhrs - Biography Fiona has held a number of senior management roles during her career which has traversed the IT, finance, telecommunications and tourism sectors as well as government. Her specialty is service industries undergoing significant growth, deregulation, competition, commercialisation, downsizing or restructuring. Her first key managerial roles were in corporate communications at the former Development Finance Corporation and Telecom Auckland, and then heading a team of more than 40 marketing communications professionals at Telecom New Zealand. In 1995 Fiona was appointed to general manager of Tranz Scenic – New Zealand’s long distance passenger train operator. During her time with Tranz Scenic, Fiona became closely involved with Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIANZ) where she became the surface transport representative on the Board, a position she still holds today. In 1999, after four years with Tranz Scenic, Fiona joined Qualmark New Zealand Ltd as Chief Executive Officer, a role she currently holds. Fiona is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Travel Communicators Association. She is a Supreme Tourism Award winner, awarded in 1997 for her team’s work developing and launching Great Train Escapes. She has also won a number of Gold Quill Awards from the International Association of Business Communicators. In 2002 Fiona was named in Unlimited magazine’s list of 150 top businesswomen. Ends