Tourism Australia promotes Kelly Maynard
At Tourism Australia, long-time Business Events Australia team member Kelly Maynard has been appointed to the new role of general manager of business events, commercial and industry – overseeing distribution, partnerships and the industry sides of the business globally.
Having joined Tourism Australia’s specialist business events unit in 2013, Maynard has overseen distribution development and partnerships for Business Events Australia since 2019, and will continue to do so, with responsibility for industry relations between Tourism Australia and Australia’s business events community, and an elevated remit to lead the global strategy for distribution and partnerships.
Maynard will continue to report to Robin Mack, who leads Business Events Australia at the executive level.
New DoS for Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour
Rachela Virgara has joined Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour as its new director of sales.
Virgara is moving over from Hyatt Regency Sydney where she was director of sales for business events. At Hyatt, she was responsible for pushing the property to be the highest revenue generating Hyatt hotel across Australasia.
In her new role Virgara is tasked with guiding the sales team to be a market leader in business events hotels in Sydney.
The 590-key hotel next door to ICC Sydney has over 1,000m2 of dedicated event space across seven rooms and its pre-function area.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rachela to the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour team,” said the property’s commercial director, Paul Andarakis.
“With her knowledge of the sector and understanding of the commercial and strategic needs of the business, she will be a key player in the growth and consolidation of this sector of the business for Sofitel.”
AVPartners appoints area partner for Western Australia
AVPartners has promoted Steve Rowe to area partner for Western Australia.
The in-house production specialists currently have three in-house contracts with venues across the state, including with Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Westin Perth.
With more than 22 years of experience in the audio visual industry to date, Rowe joined AVPartners in 2012 as a technical event manager, before being becoming an associate in 2018 and a partner in 2020.
“It’s an exciting time for AVPartners and I’m thrilled to be leading the team in WA into the future,” said Rowe.
“We have a highly skilled and dedicated team in WA, who are always striving to be at the forefront of what we do.
“AVPartners in WA is rapidly expanding our service offerings to our clients and venues and I look forward to working with my WA team to bring this into fruition.”
AVPartners’ managing director, Andrew Hackett, called Rowe’s promotion “a testament to his outstanding contributions and leadership within AVPartners”.
“Over the years, Steve has shown an unwavering commitment to excellence and his ability to inspire and lead his team is truly remarkable.
“I have no doubt that Steve will excel in this new role, bringing fresh ideas and continued success to our operations in WA.”
