The managing director of Tourism Australia, Phillipa Harrison (pictured) is to leave her role in August 2025 to take on a new opportunity overseas. The national tourism organisation’s board announced the move, saying a search for Harrison’s replacement will begin soon.
Harrison was appointed MD in 2019 and reappointed in 2024 for a five-year term.
Tourism Australia chair Penny Fowler AM thanked Harrison for her work, saying that, under her leadership, the organisation had demonstrated the importance of the tourism industry to the nation. “Pip’s vision has been to grow a sustainable tourism sector, which was particularly challenging when faced with the devastating impacts of the Black Summer bushfires of 2019 and 2020 and a global pandemic,” Fowler said, adding that Tourism Australia had helped bring in over eight million international visitors in the past year, the first time since pre-pandemic.
Harrison would leave behind a legacy of strong industry engagement, “a culture of global and national connection and creativity, and the determination to succeed despite the most difficult of times”, Fowler said.
Harrison paid tribute to the 200 Tourism Australia staff and said it had been “the greatest privilege of my career to lead Tourism Australia on behalf of an industry I love and have dedicated my life to”. “I’m proud to have represented this resilient industry through challenging times, and I’m deeply grateful to the team at Tourism Australia for their passion, professionalism and unwavering love for this incredible country,” she added.
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