Tourism Summit Speakers
Jenny-May Clarkson
MC
Jenny-May Clarkson is a dynamic broadcaster, celebrated sportswoman, and advocate for community and cultural empowerment. With over 30 years of professional experience, she has excelled in roles spanning television and radio broadcasting, international sports, coaching, and social advocacy.
As a well-known face of New Zealand morning television, Jenny-May is renowned for her authenticity, empathy, and ability to connect with diverse audiences. She has reported on significant national and international events, earning accolades such as the Voyager Media Award for Best Shortform Video.
A former New Zealand netball and touch rugby representative, Jenny-May also served as Assistant Coach for the Northern Mystics, demonstrating her leadership both on and off the court. Her passion for fostering growth extends to her work as an Athlete Life Advisor and as a champion for women in leadership.
Away from the spotlight, Jenny-May is a proud mother to twin boys and stepmother to two daughters, sharing her life with her husband Dean. Her family is at the heart of her journey, grounding her in her values of resilience, connection, and kindness.
Jenny-May is deeply committed to her Māori heritage and community. She proudly represents her iwi, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kahu, and engages with kaupapa Māori initiatives to uplift and inspire others.
As an Ambassador for Save the Kiwi and Bowel Cancer NZ, Jenny-May leverages her platform to advocate for meaningful causes. Whether anchoring live broadcasts, speaking at events, or coaching teams, Jenny-May Clarkson embodies leadership, connection, and storytelling, leaving a lasting impact wherever she goes
George Cao
Co-founder and CEO, Dragon Trail International
George Cao is Co-founder and CEO of Dragon Trail International and a globally recognised expert in tourism strategy, digital travel ecosystems, destination marketing, and traveller behaviour. In his keynote, George will share international insights on destination competitiveness, emerging traveller trends, the role of technology and distribution, and how destinations can create distinctive experiences that drive growth and conversion.
Corin Dann
Political Journalist
Corin Dann is a senior journalist and broadcaster with over 25 years’ experience covering news, politics and economics. He currently works at RNZ hosting the flagship show Morning Report and co-hosting the new political history podcast Context. Highlights from Corin’s career include reporting live from the US Presidential election, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and behind the wire in Iraq. He lives in Wellington with his wife and sons. When not working Corin loves surfing, playing guitar and walking his black Labrador, Stanley.
Kelly Eckhold
Chief Economist, Westpac New Zealand
Kelly is Westpac's Chief Economist, a role he has held since joining the bank in March 2023. He began his career at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, where he held senior roles across the Financial Markets, Economics and Financial Stability departments. He then spent 12 years at the International Monetary Fund, working on monetary policy, foreign exchange and financial stability across a range of economies. Kelly is known for translating complex macro conditions into clear, grounded analysis.
Hon. Tim Groser
Tim is regarded internationally as a leader in trade policy and international climate change negotiations. After graduating with first class honours in economics and economic history, Tim started his career as a junior economist in the NZ Treasury.
In the early 1980s he became Foreign Policy Adviser to two NZ Prime Ministers (Muldoon & Lange) and in 1985 was appointed Chief Trade Negotiator where he led our team in the last successful multilateral trade negotiations.
In the mid 1990s Tim was Ambassador to Indonesia and returned to run a think tank, the Asia-NZ Foundation. In 1999, as Principal Economic Adviser to MFAT, Tim developed and negotiated the first steps towards what became known as the ‘CPTPP’ (the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) which is today a foundation stone of our trade strategy.
In 2002, Tim was appointed as NZ Ambassador to the WTO. In that capacity, Tim authored the successful ‘Framework Agreement on Agriculture’, widely believed at the time to open the door to the successful conclusion of the DDA overall. Unfortunately, many years of lost momentum later meant otherwise.
In 2005 Tim left Geneva to enter NZ politics and was elected to Parliament. After three years as Shadow Trade Minister, Tim became Minister of Trade, Minister of Climate Change Negotiations and Associate Foreign Minister. As Trade Minister, he oversaw the expansion of the TPP process.
As Minister of Climate Change Negotiations from 2008, and after the collapse of the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Patricia Espinosa invited Tim to facilitate private discussions between China and the United States at Ministerial level to try to find a new way forward. Tim evolved the hybrid political/legal Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) from those (and wider) negotiations into the ‘NZ Proposal for the Long Term Climate Change Agreement’. The US and China then endorsed the ‘NZ Proposal’ and the NDC became the core commitment of the Paris Agreement. Tim also initiated (with Sir John Key’s strong support) in 2010 the Global Research Alliance on Greenhouse Gases to support internationally coordinated research into lower emissions agriculture technologies.
In December 2015, Tim was appointed NZ Ambassador to the United States. He returned to NZ in late 2018 and is now an independent consultant advising on trade and climate change. He is now Chair of the NZ Advisory Group on Supercritical Geothermal, responsible for coordinating the world’s first coherent attempt to prove the engineering viability of this vast source of renewable energy.
Tim has three adult children, four grandchildren and speaks competent French and Indonesian and is in the early stages of studying Te Reo, given his responsibilities in geothermal and working closely with iwi in that capacity.
Tabitha Harris
Co-founder OHO
Tabs is a brand strategist and creative director whose career spans Aotearoa and international markets. With a unique focus on bringing strategic thinking and creative direction together to ensure strong market positioning, audience conversion/loyalty and increased footfall, following, fandom, visitation or dwell time.
She has led large-scale rebrands, international marketing rollouts and retail fit outs and activations for global brands including Nike, Converse and L’Oréal as well as brings a niche specialism in placemaking – particularly for tourism, retail and public realm sectors. Including sports stadiums (Tottenham Hotspur), boutique London hotels, Heathrow airport, and plenty of bespoke music festivals, beauty and wellness, food and beverage, and mixed-use residential, co-working and hospitality developments across London and Dubai. In NZ, Tabs has worked on destination brands, research and insight reports, marketing and social playbooks and marketing campaigns for councils, government agencies, SME’s, local operators and community groups.
Jason Hill
Managing Director, Tourism Talent
Jason has held a variety of senior management and governance roles across the New Zealand tourism industry and is currently Managing Director of Tourism Talent and Meneth Consulting.
Prior roles include Head of Auckland Tourism, Regional Manager Japan & Korea at Tourism New Zealand based in Tokyo, GM Marketing at Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, and Marketing Manager at BTM Marketing.
Governance roles include Tourism Bay of Plenty, Chair - ICE Group, Tūwharetoa Tongariro Tourism Hub, AUT Tourism School advisory board, NZ Cruise Association, i-site NZ, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and Te Haerenga (an arm of Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki iwi).
Jason led the development of the Destination AKL 2025 Plan, New Zealand’s first Destination Management Plan launched in May 2018 and was the lead consult writing the Destination Management Plan for Northland in 2021.
Rebecca Ingram
Chief Executive, Tourism Industry Aotearoa
Rebecca Ingram joined TIA as Chief Executive in March 2022, bringing with her over 20 years of experience across tourism, marketing, event management, advocacy and stakeholder relations.
Rebecca describes herself as ‘tourism’s biggest champion’ and is passionate about supporting the industry to build its resilience and impact through economic, social, environmental and cultural contributions to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Through her strong network with key decision makers and relationships into government, she successfully advocates on behalf of the industry. As the driving force being the development of Tourism 2050 – a Blueprint for Impact, she has helped to establish a clear strategy for the industry, articulating a shared mission and vision, and clearly conveying the industry’s ambitions for the future and plan to get there.
Felicity Roxburgh
Executive Director of the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF)
Felicity Roxburgh is the Executive Director of the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF), where she leads the Forum’s engagement on key trade and economic policy issues and represents the interests of internationally focused businesses in dialogue with government and international partners.
Felicity brings nearly two decades of experience in international trade, foreign policy, and regional engagement, with a strong focus on geopolitics and the Indo-Pacific. She most recently served as New Zealand’s Consul-General in New Caledonia and has held a broad range of roles at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with postings in Hong Kong, New York, and the Pacific.
Earlier in her career, Felicity served as Director, Business at the Asia New Zealand Foundation, where she led initiatives to strengthen New Zealand’s business and people-to-people links across Asia. She has a Master's in Communication Studies and a degree in journalism.
Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana
Managing Director, TRC Tourism
Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana is an innovative tourism leader with more than 25 years’ experience in Indigenous tourism, destination stewardship, strategic planning and purposeful engagement. As Managing Director of TRC Tourism, she works with Indigenous communities, governments and organisations across New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific to develop values-based tourism and trail initiatives that honour culture, strengthen environmental stewardship and build social and economic resilience.
Kylie speaks internationally on purposeful engagement and truth-telling and, as Global Lead for Indigenous Ways within the World Trails Network, champions Indigenous knowledge, cultural authority and community leadership in trail development.