New General Manager for Destination Great Lake Taupō

Destination Great Lake Taupō Board Chair, Kathy Guy has announced today that Vanessa Freeman has been appointed to the position of General Manager, Destination Great Lake Taupō.

“It is very pleasing to make an appointment of this calibre to the vital General Manager role, and we were impressed with the number and quality of the candidates that put themselves forward for the role” Kathy Guy said.

Vanessa brings to the role an impressive combination of skills that are well suited to the general manager position.  She has an in depth experience in the industry, with previous roles as Sales and Marketing Manager for Taupō Tourism Holdings and prior to that, as the Marketing Manager for Destination Lake Taupō.  With previous tourism roles also in Auckland and now running her own marketing company Vanessa has a broad range of experience in highly relevant tourism businesses. This combination of both private and public sector experience will be invaluable when developing partnerships with the industry into the future. 

Her previous experience as the Marketing and Media Manager for the Erupt Lake Taupō Arts Festival also gives Vanessa an excellent insight into events in the region and the role that they can play in promoting tourism to the region.

Having been in Taupō for over seven years Vanessa has strong local connections and knowledge of what Taupō has to offer with its year round tourism experiences.  In addition Vanessa has, with her previous marketing and management roles, a clear understanding of what is required to actively promote tourism into the future.  

“With the summer tourism season just around the corner I am delighted to have Vanessa on the DGLT team to support the busy programme of activities that are front of the organisation.   Vanessa starts in her role as General Manager on October 23” said Kathy Guy.

Background

Destination Great Lake Taupō is the Regional Tourism Organisation for the Taupō region.   It is responsible for destination marketing, trade marketing, promotion of the destination as a conference and meetings destination.  In addition DGLT runs two i-SITEs, one in Taupō and one in Turangi that provide visitor information and a sales outlet for tourism activities and accommodation in the region.