As the Managing Director, Phillipa is responsible for driving Tourism Australia’s strategies to create sustainable international demand for Australia’s tourism experiences and working with the tourism industry to support the sector’s recovery from the impacts of the events of 2020.

Phillipa first joined Tourism Australia in February 2017 as Executive General Manager International, to lead the organisation’s international operations for Asia, the Americas, Europe and New Zealand as well as Global Distribution and Partnerships.

Prior to joining Tourism Australia, Phillipa spent six years working for Hamilton Island Enterprises and before that held a variety of globally-focused senior sales, marketing and product roles across ecommerce, retail and wholesale tourism platforms, based in both London and Sydney.

Phillipa holds a Bachelor of Arts (Mass Communication and Psychology) from Macquarie University and an MBA from AGSM at the University of NSW.

Steve Cox is the Chief Executive Officer of Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency.

Destination NSW is the lead agency, champion and voice for the NSW visitor economy. It also owns, manages and produces Australia's largest event, Vivid Sydney.

Steve is a passionate and energetic champion for Sydney and regional NSW. He drives the strategic direction of Destination NSW, including the delivery of the Visitor Economy Strategy 2030 to ensure NSW is the premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific by 2030. 

Steve is also a Director on the Boards of Business Events Sydney (BESydney) and the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse.

Prior to joining Destination NSW in 2020, Steve was the Managing Director of Dymocks for eight years, where he launched several high-growth business channels for the company. Before Dymocks, Steve held senior roles with David Jones and the Specialty Fashion Group. Steve holds an MBA with Macquarie University – Graduate School of Management.

Sally is an experienced chairman, non-executive director and business leader in financial services, media, and corporate affairs. From 2014-2021 Sally was the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Council, the peak industry organisation developing policy for superannuation funds, fund managers, life insurance and advice licensees.

Sally is Chairman of Destination NSW, Chair of Ignition Advice, and a director of Chubb Insurance Australia and the Garvan Medical Institute Research Foundation. She is on the Advisory Board of Orizontas, a boutique corporate advisory consultancy specialising in political, market, reputational and climate risk; a trustee for Sydney’s Hyde Park ANZAC Memorial, a global ambassador for Business Events Sydney and a member of Chief Executive Women. She is a former director of Venues NSW and SCEGGS Darlinghurst, and was Waratahs Rugby’s first female director.

Her first career was in the media, where she spent 25 years as a broadcaster and journalist across ABC radio, commercial television and leading newspapers. As a senior executive at Coca-Cola Amatil for nine years, she wrote the company’s ESG reports and developed strong skills in reputation and stakeholder management.

A long-time supporter of the community and charity sectors, Sally is a Governor of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation and patron of Lou’s Place, a women’s refuge. She chaired the Salvation Army’s Sydney East Doorknock Appeal from 2008-2011. She mentors women through McCarthy Mentoring, the Minerva Network and the Superstars of STEM program, and served on the corporate advisory board of the NSW Council for Women’s Economic Opportunity and is a member of the NSW Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault Corporate Leadership Group.

John Hart OAM is Executive Chair of Australian Chamber – Tourism, Chair of Tourism Training Australia and Australian Grape and Wine. He is on the Board of Tourism Australia, the Australian Business Register, the Angus Knight Group and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand.

John was Chief Executive Officer of Restaurant & Catering Australia, the peak industry body representing restaurants, cafes and caterers for 18 years. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for service to the tourism industry in 2021 and holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Business Law and a Master of Business Law.

John currently also served as Chair of the Commonwealth Vocational Education and Training Advisory Board between 2013 and 2017 and was previously on the Prime Ministers Business Advisory Council.

Lyn Lewis-Smith is CEO of BESydney and leads a global team of professionals spanning Europe, North America and Asia who are charged with securing global meetings of strategic, economic and social benefit to Sydney, Australia. The organisation works across sectors which include infrastructure, technology, professional services, advanced manufacturing, education and health.

Lyn has led transformation globally, passionately advocating for Australian business, scientific and cultural achievements on the world stage. She received the Destination International’s Humanitarian Award for her co-authored and published research, with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School, into the social legacies of hosting international business events: Determining Business Events Legacies beyond the Tourism spend.

An experienced non-executive director in chair and member roles on boards and committees, she is a Fellow of the UTS, Adjunct Professor and Co-Chair of the UTS Business School, Director of Destinations International, Committee for Sydney, the Women’s Resilience Centre and Asia Pacific Chair of DestinationNEXT.

Lyn is a strong advocate for the advancement and professional development of women in all facets of leadership in Australia. In 2018, she Co-Chaired the Global Summit of Women held in Sydney and is a Women in Leadership Ambassador for the UTS, a member of Chief Executive Women, the International Women’s Forum Australia and a Minerva Network Mentor.

The inaugural CEO of Accommodation Australia - National, Michael has more than thirty years of experience at the highest levels of the tourism accommodation sector across Australia and New Zealand.

As head of Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA National and NSW) since May 2019, Michael spearheaded the sector’s response to COVID, steering it through its darkest days in more than 100 years and representing the accommodation sector in the halls of power in Canberra and Sydney and in the media. A former long-time general manager of four- and five-star hotels, Michael lives and breathes the industry and is committed to providing all members with the highest levels of service and representation.

As CEO of TAA – and interim CEO of the Accommodation Association of Australia since October 2022 (the first person to hold both roles) – Michael has been pivotal in the amalgamation of Australia’s two peak accommodation bodies – a merger he has described as a long-held “dream come true.”

Michael epitomises the resilience of the accommodation sector and whether it’s encouraging the next generation of young hotel workers to build a successful career in hospitality or drawing attention to the needs of the industry at the highest levels, he is an enthusiastic and effective ambassador for the accommodation sector.

Paula Martin is an Executive Director Regional NSW and The Visitor Economy, Business NSW.

Paula’s focus is to drive positive tourism and regional economic outcomes for business including skill development, jobs and reduction of red tape through the initiation, and delivery of initiatives that help business grow through collaboration with government, industry and business.

Paula has extensive experience in innovation and commercialisation and built the multi-award winning, progressive and technologically driven, multi-disciplinary consulting business, Australian Business Consulting & Solutions.

Paula has experience providing integrated consulting and technology solutions that help Australian business improve their marketing, international trade, safety, human resources and business improvement strategies.

Under her leadership, Paula achieved many firsts including the set-up of an operation in Shanghai China to help Australian SMEs find genuine, authentic buyers in China. The design of leading HR Management System - HR Advance. The development of Australia’s most comprehensive and award winning small business online business health check (underpinning Telstra Business Awards), designed to benchmark and improve the health of a small business.

With a background in innovation, marketing, branding and strategy, Paula has successfully led significant national branding and commercialisation at both a corporate and product level for companies including KPMG, Development Dimensions International and Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific.