Visit Victoria’s new chair
Former Telstra CEO Andrew Penn has been appointed chair of Visit Victoria, the state’s visitor marketing agency.
Penn takes over from current chair Janet Whiting AM at the end of September. Whiting spent five years as chair.
Penn was at the helm of Telstra between 2015 and 2022 and has strong ties to the arts.
He is a member of the Council of Trustees at the National Gallery of Victoria, was awarded the Creative Partnerships Australia Business Leadership Award in 2020 for fostering relationships between business and the arts and received an AO in the 2023 Australia Day Honours for his contribution to business, charity, youth and the arts.
“Andy is an experienced leader and his expertise will make a significant contribution to Visit Victoria,” said Steve Dimopoulos, Victoria’s minister for tourism, sport and major events.
“I would like to thank Janet Whiting for her incredible leadership during a huge period of growth for Victoria’s tourism sector. Under your guidance Visit Victoria has secured world class major events, seen record tourism numbers – backing local jobs and operators right across the state.”
Appointments at The Star Gold Coast and The Star Brisbane
Mark Mackay is the latest senior staffer from Crown Resorts to join The Star Entertainment Group.
Mackay has been appointed CEO of The Star Gold Coast, taking over from Ian Brown, who was interim CEO after Jessica Mellor resigned from the role less than a year in.
Having been with Crown since 2017, taking the top job at The Star Gold Coast is a return to the property for Mackay, who was chief operating officer there when The Star Gold Coast was known as Jupiters Hotel and Casino.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Mark to The Star as chief executive officer of The Star Gold Coast,” said The Star’s board chair, Anne Ward.
“Mark has a deep understanding of what it takes to run a leading integrated resort development and brings a lot of capability to this role.
“Mark’s appointment and relevant experience further strengthens our leadership team as we focus on implementing the necessary reforms at The Star.”
The Star’s new CEO, Steve McCann, who joined the business in July, is also from Crown, having been its CEO between 2021 and 2022.
And, at The Star Brisbane, Shayne Mansfield has been appointed executive chef of the hero Sky Deck, a 250m wraparound space at Queen’s Wharf that appears suspended 100m above Brisbane’s city streets that can host events of around 1,000 attendees.
Mansfield is a Michelin-star trained chef, who has worked in Australia and overseas, including contributing to the launch of City Social in London which received a Michelin star shortly after opening.
Since being back in Australia, he opened a restaurant in the Hunter Valley, The Flotilla, and was most recently executive chef at QT Newcastle.
At Queen’s Wharf, he will oversee the three restaurants on the Sky Deck, Cicada Blu, Babblers and Aloria, the first two of which are already open, while the Sky Deck’s hero restaurant, Aloria, will open next month.
“After spending so many years away from Brisbane, developing and refining my culinary skillset alongside some of the best chefs in the world, I am so pleased to return home with my family and deliver three of The Star Brisbane’s most anticipated venues,” said Mansfield.
“It has been a privilege to be part of such a significant opening in Brisbane’s history.
“With sustainability and minimal waste in the kitchen at the core of my culinary journey, these principles have been strongly considered across the menu design phase of all three Sky Deck venues.”
The recent appointments at The Star come amid some uncertainty for the company, which has been suspended from the Australian stock exchange since September 2, due to failure to lodge its financial results. In notices to the ASX since, The Star has said “it is continuing to work with various stakeholders and advisers in respect of its financial position”.
With the findings of the second inquiry into The Star Sydney, released publicly at the end of August, concluding it was still unsuitable to hold a casino licence, The Star has been issued a show cause notice to explain why it should not be subject to disciplinary action given the findings of the second inquiry.
Two new faces at Cordis, Auckland
Sunny Goo has been appointed as Cordis, Auckland’s first female hotel manager, while Jacques Meyer has become the hotel’s new director of sales and marketing.
Goo has more than 17 years of experience in hotels, working at various Accor properties around New Zealand and a Sofitel in Fiji, as well as, most recently, working with Pro-invest Group as a hotel manager.
Meyer has more than two decades of experience in marketing, primarily in hotels and hospitality, in South Africa and New Zealand.
Having previously held roles with IHG Hotels & Resorts, Southern Sun and Hilton, Meyer moves over from EVT in New Zealand, which has the Rydges, QT and Atura brands to its name.
“We are excited to welcome Sunny and Jacques to the Cordis family,” said Cordis, Auckland’s managing director, Craig Bonnor.
“Their combined expertise and passion for excellence will undoubtedly strengthen our team and help us continue to deliver exceptional experiences for our guests. We look forward to the positive impact they will have on our hotel and our team.”
