Sun shines on Tourism Whitsundays with AUD$3m funding and key hire

Tourism Whitsundays has appointed an industry development manager thanks to funding from the Australian government’s Recovery for Regional Tourism Fund. Nicole Riksman, a brand and product development leader with over 12 years’ national travel industry experience, will take up the role. Funding of AUD$3m (USD$2.25m) was secured by Tourism Whitsundays to deliver a range of regional initiatives, including a Whitsundays Product and Industry Development Project, and the appointment of Riksman a critical step in driving the initiative. Tourism Whitsundays CEO, Tash Wheeler said: “We’re thrilled to have Nicole on board to assist us in encouraging and facilitating experience-based opportunities for the region, developing tourism products and identifying investment prospects to benefit the industry. Nicole’s knowledge and expertise will be invaluable in achieving these goals.” Wheeler added: “In addition to nurturing experiences suited to Australian travellers, Nicole will be working closely with our marketing and trade teams to ensure there is a vibrant, inbound tourism offering in place, ready for when international visitors return to Australia and the beautiful Whitsundays region.” Riksman concluded: “The impacts of the past 18 months on travel and tourism have been significant, particularly in regions such as ours that had such a reliance on international visitation. I’ll be working hand-in-hand with industry to ensure we can harness the current domestic travel market but also maintain a longer-term international preparedness.”