Oscar Nathan returns to Destination Rotorua Marketing as General Manager

Rotorua District Council (RDC) has announced the appointment of Oscar Nathan as general manager of Destination Rotorua Marketing (DRM) with effect from early January 2012.

The appointment is a full circle for Mr Nathan who first started at the council’s destination marketing department at age 25 at what was then called Tourism Rotorua.

“I’m now 39 and have been extremely fortunate to get out into the private sector, learn from and work with a great array of people and organisations from New Zealand and abroad,” said Mr Nathan. “That allows me to bring a range of new skills, experience and perspectives that I am extremely excited about applying in this newly revised role.

"It's a privilege to be able to work with the industry, community, and Rotorua Tourism Committee at such a crucial and exciting time for Rotorua. There’s a genuine opportunity for DRM to set a new performance benchmark in terms of what a successful Regional Tourism Organisation could look like.

"As a team our responsibility is to not only entice visitors to stay longer, explore and spend more but we also need to connect with those that seek a longer term engagement investing and doing business here in Rotorua.”

Prior to his appointment Mr Nathan held numerous roles including a business advisor position with Poutama Trust, and he is currently deputy chair of NZ Tourism Industry Association, board member of Te Puia and NZ Hospitality Standards Institute, council member of Waiariki Institute of Technology, chair of Maori in Tourism Rotorua, and is involved with The University of Waikato.

RDC Economic & Regulatory Services group manager Mark Rawson said Mr Nathan is highly regarded in tourism both locally and nationally, and was clearly the best candidate for the role

“Oscar will retain some of his current positions where they will compliment DRM and the general manager role, and there are others such as his chairmanship of Maori in Tourism Rotorua and directorship of Te Puia that he will step down from as a commitment to this role.

“We’re looking forward to building on his wealth of experience and skills in shifting the focus of DRM from one of business planning and change, with some well publicised recent challenges, to one of business plan implementation and getting things done.

“Oscar and the team have a large challenge ahead in rebuilding Rotorua’s leadership position in a national and international context, and in doing so regain the local industry’s confidence in DRM.

“It’s time for the council and industry to move forward with renewed confidence, and concentrate on the task at hand which includes a focus on the Auckland domestic market and international markets of Australia and China. We’re not starting from a blank canvas - a solid platform has already been created by the hard working DRM team under the leadership of DRM acting general manager Tania Bui.”

Mr Rawson said he acknowledges the important role the industry representatives on the appointment panel played.

“Their support for Oscar’s appointment gives a good platform for building the industry cohesion required to get on with the job.”

Rotorua Tourism Committee chair Tony Marks says the Tourism Committee looked forward to a successful 2012 and beyond with Mr Nathan at the helm.

“Oscar has enormous experience in tourism and was party to helping devise the strategic objectives agreed by the Tourism Committee which he will now be able to continue to implement.”