Annabel Cotton, who chairs the regional tourism organisation, has announced the appointment of Malcolm Phillipps and Karleen Turner-Puriri to the HWT board.
Both Phillipps and Turner-Puriri are Waikato-based.
Turner-Puriri, with Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto affiliations, is a business development analyst with particular experience in the Maori economy and tourism, business transformation and entrepreneurship. She holds a Bachelor of E-commerce and post-graduate diploma in management studies and is completing her MBA.
Phillipps, who runs his own strategic marketing consultancy, has more than 20 years marketing experience, including as chief marketing officer at 2degrees. He has a background in communications, media and digital environments and has held various governance roles. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Annabel Cotton said she was delighted but not surprised HWT had attracted two enormously talented directors.
“The appointment of Karleen and Malcolm reflects the soaring potential of the region’s tourism offer; it’s an exciting sector to be involved in. They will bring some very specific expertise to the board as well as a diversity of thought and experience. They will make an outstanding contribution to regional tourism,” Cotton said.
Phillipps and Turner-Puriri were officially appointed from January 1, 2017 and will attend their first board HWT meeting later this month. They will join Cotton and HWT’s existing directors Simon Douglas, Don Scarlet and Mark Morgan.