Tourism Western Australia’s CEO appointment

Tourism Western Australia’s (WA) Board Chairman Kate Lamont has welcomed the appointment of Stephanie Buckland as the new CEO of Tourism WA, as advised by the Public Sector Commission today.

Ms. Buckland has been acting in the role since January last year. Ms. Lamont said Ms. Buckland had done an outstanding job as the Acting CEO, overseeing a significant agency restructure, while at the same time implementing a range of new initiatives that had advanced tourism in WA.

“She developed our new brand, “Experience Extraordinary Western Australia,” which showcases the unique experiences WA has to offer, which can’t be found anywhere else in Australia or the world,” she said.

“Stephanie also brought the new brand to life with the very successful ‘Extraordinary Taxi Ride’ campaign, which reached a global audience of 90 million people and generated a $13 to $1 return on investment.”

In addition, Ms. Buckland negotiated a significant three-year cooperative marketing agreement with Jetstar, which is linked to a 60 percent increase in passenger capacity into Perth from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast.

“Stephanie is well qualified for this role and brings a high level of commercial acumen to the agency,” Ms. Lamont said.

Ms. Buckland was formerly the Executive Director of Marketing at Tourism WA, after joining the agency from Bankwest, where she was Head of Marketing.
Prior to joining Bankwest, she worked for Pfizer Consumer Healthcare for 12 years, both in the USA and Australia.

“We are very lucky to have her,” Ms. Lamont said.

“Stephanie is well regarded by our stakeholders in the tourism industry and has adopted a consultative approach to policy development.”

Ms. Buckland has an undergraduate degree in marketing from the Pennsylvania State University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Virginia.