This inaugural summit unites WA’s accommodation and business events sectors to build a high-performing workforce, elevate service excellence and strengthen the State’s global competitiveness and industry profile.
Designed as a focused half-day event, the summit connects accommodation leaders, revenue and sales professionals, MBCCE and PCO specialists, and people and culture teams around a shared agenda — strengthening capability, competitiveness and collaboration across the visitor economy.
Through expert insights and industry-led discussion, attendees will explore how economic conditions, changing consumer expectations, technology, pricing strategy and targeted marketing are shaping the future of accommodation and business events in WA. The program is practical, forward-looking and tailored for decision-makers responsible for people, performance and profitability.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This summit is ideal for professionals driving strategy, service excellence, and workforce performance across WA’s accommodation and business events sectors, including:
- Hotel General Managers, Revenue Managers, Sales & Marketing Managers, or Managers/Directors of any business unit
- Meetings, Banquets, Conferences, Conventions & Exhibitions (MBCCE) Executives
- Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs)
- HR and Procurement Leaders
- Broader tourism, accommodation, events professionals and service providers
SUMMIT THEMES
Gain a clear understanding of Western Australia’s economic environment, tourism strengths and competitive position in domestic and global markets. This session sets the context for strategic decision-making, helping leaders align workforce capability, investment and service delivery with where the market is heading.
Explore how emerging technologies are being used across accommodation and business events to improve guest and delegate experiences, streamline operations and support smarter workforce management. Learn where technology can create genuine value — and where to focus investment for the greatest impact.
Understand how shifting demographics, travel behaviours and expectations of service excellence are influencing accommodation and business events demand. This session looks at what today’s guests, delegates and clients value most, and how teams can adapt service models and culture to meet rising expectations.
Discover how data-driven insights can support more effective pricing, demand management and revenue optimisation across accommodation and MBCCE sectors. This theme focuses on balancing commercial performance with long-term brand value and customer loyalty in a competitive market.
Learn how tailored marketing strategies can engage diverse audiences — from corporate buyers and conference organisers to leisure travellers and event delegates. This session explores how sales, marketing and revenue teams can work together to build stronger relationships, drive loyalty and attract the right markets for WA.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Andrew Baxter
One of Australia’s Most Trusted Business, Marketing & Communications Advisors Andrew Baxter is passionate about helping companies unlock topline growth through sharp strategy and executional excellence. He has worked with Australia’s largest companies, brands and government bodies, including as CEO of Ogilvy and Publicis, and as a Senior Advisor at KPMG. A celebrated marketer, he led campaigns such as Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” and founded 24 Hour Business Plan to help organisations turn strategy into action. Andrew’s keynote will set the strategic tone for the summit and offer practical insights relevant to leaders across accommodation, business events, marketing and HR.
WHAT YOU WILL GAIN
Attendees will leave the summit with actionable insights, practical strategies, and new perspectives to drive performance across accommodation and business events. Key takeaways include:
- Workforce and leadership strategies to attract, retain and develop high-performing teams in WA
- Market intelligence on economic trends, consumer behaviour and global positioning
- Technology and innovation guidance to enhance guest experiences, streamline operations and support smarter workforce management
- Revenue, pricing and marketing insights to optimise profitability and engage diverse audiences
- Valuable networking opportunities, including a keynote lunch and post-event cocktail reception to connect with peers, industry leaders and potential collaborators
PROGRAM SNAPSHOT
The schedule is being finalised. Session and speaker details will be added as they are confirmed — please check back for updates.
12 noon – Registration
12.30pm – Welcome and opening remarks
12.45pm – Keynote lunch session (lunch provided)
1.30pm – Facilitated Q&A
1:45 pm – SESSION 1: CONTEXT, COMPETITION & POSITIONING
WA’s Place in the Global Market: How We Compete and Why It Matters
2:10 pm – SESSION 2: FROM ROOM TO ROUTE — DESIGNING THE END-TO-END GUEST & DELEGATE JOURNEY
Tech, Experience and Expectation in a High-Yield Market
2:35 pm – SESSION 3: EVOLVING CONSUMER PREFERENCES
Changing Behaviour, Booking Patterns and Decision Drivers
3:00 pm – NETWORKING BREAK
3:30 pm – SESSION 4: REVENUE & PRICING STRATEGY
Data-Led Decision Making for Rooms, Events and Total Revenue
3:55 pm – SESSION 5: TARGETED MARKETING & AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
A practical, insight-led session on how destinations, hotels and venues can cut through to increasingly fragmented audiences—corporate, leisure, business events and emerging high-yield segments—using clearer storytelling, sharper targeting and more human brand connection.
Speaker: Rob Dougan, Executive General Manager, Strategy & Culture, Tourism Australia
4.20pm – End of day, closing reflection
4.30pm – cocktail reception (drinks and networking included), Sponsored by Pan Pacific Perth
SPEAKERS/PANELISTS
A curated line-up of industry leaders, specialists and practitioners from across accommodation, business events, technology, revenue, marketing and workforce development will be announced shortly. Together, these speakers will bring diverse perspectives and practical insights aligned to the summit’s core themes.
Tania Hudson
CEO
Committee for Perth
Tania is the CEO of Committee for Perth, an independent, future-focused organisation that seeks to advance Perth as a global region of choice to live, work, invest, study and visit. Over the past 30 years, Tania has held executive leadership roles across a diverse range of industries and sectors across Australia, including banking, resources, medical research and creative industries. Most recently, she was CEO of the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA. Tania sits on the Board of The Essentials Collective, and her passions include travel, dogs, cooking and keeping fit.
Gareth Martin
CEO
Business Events Perth
A passionate advocate for Western Australia and the business events sector, Gareth is the CEO of Business Events Perth. Proudly calling Perth home, Gareth has been with the organisation for more than 16 years, promoting WA as a leading destination for business events.
Appointed CEO in 2019, he has a strong focus on working collaboratively with key stakeholders, clients and member partners to drive strong outcomes for the business events sector. Gareth is also on the Australian Business Events Association National Board, to advocate a strong and collective national voice for the business events sector. His spare time is spent with his family creating memories with new adventures exploring WA and its vast natural landscapes.
Chad Anderson
Director General
Department of Creative Industries Tourism and Sport
Chad Anderson is a senior executive with over 20 years’ leadership experience across federal, state and territory governments with a strong track record in the finance, education, sport and tourism sectors.
He was most recently the Deputy Director General, Tourism at the Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation where he had responsibility for setting strategic direction and leading the Tourism industry across Queensland.
Previous roles include Executive Director, Sport and Recreation Partnerships, Strategy and Development at the Queensland Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport; Executive Director, Brisbane 2032 Taskforce at the Queensland Department of Housing and Works; and Director, School Engagement and Partnerships at the Australian Sports Commission. Chad has also represented Australia as a professional triathlete.
He brings a talent for identifying opportunities and building partnerships, as well as developing a culture of innovation and delivering cross-sector strategies.
He holds a Bachelor of Business, Finance and Management from Northern Territory University, he has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course as well as the Deputies Leadership Program and Executive Fellows Program through the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.
Rob Dougan
Executive General Manager of Strategy and Culture
Tourism Australia
Rob Dougan serves as the Executive General Manager of Strategy and Culture at Tourism Australia. With a strong commercial mindset, Rob and his team shape the organisation’s future driving better outcomes for the Australian tourism industry.
Rob’s department oversees: Strategy, analysing and identifying investment areas for Tourism Australia’s finite time and resources. Planning, ensuring alignment of activity around our organisational objectives. Aviation route development, driving connectivity for Australia. Additionally, Rob champions People and Culture, fostering a high-performance work environment within Tourism Australia.
Previously, Rob spent 15 years in marketing and advertising across Sydney and London, leading high-profile campaigns for Tourism Australia itself, along with Tourism Tasmania, EasyJet and Qantas amongst others, a background that cultivated his strategic and creative insights.
Bradley Woods
CEO
Australian Hotels Association WA
Bradley is one of Australia’s most respected tourism, hotel and hospitality leaders, with over 30 years’ industry experience. He has served as CEO of the Australian Hotels Association (WA) since 1998 and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University’s School of Business and Law. Bradley has a degree in International Business Relations and chairs several key organisations, including Business Events Perth, the Australia Day Council WA, Hospitality Group Training. He is also Co-Founder of Healthy Mind Menu Inc. and served on the Board of Tourism Australia for six years and Ronald McDonald House Charities for ten years.
Michael Heyward
CEO
Emekeli Research
Michael Heyward is the CEO and Founder of Emekeli Research, a company which was set up in 2024 to advance the profession of Revenue Management in Meetings and Events for Hotels and Venues, by establishing industry standards for measuring performance and providing benchmarking on these metrics.
Michael has over 30 years of experience in Hotel Operations, Revenue Management and Higher Education, across Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, at the leading edge of the development of Revenue Management as a discipline in Hotels and Rail. The drive to innovate, challenging the way we work and making better business decisions, continues.
Nell Harrison
Chief Operating Officer
Lightning Bolt Consulting
Nell believes strong associations and exceptional events are built on trust, clarity and people-first leadership, she is a committed, respected and passionate industry professional with more than 20 years’ experience dedicated to driving excellence in association and conference management. As the former Managing Director of one of Australia’s largest Association and Conference Management companies, Nell provided strategic and operational leadership across a diverse portfolio of national and international associations. Her career has been shaped by leading organisations through periods of growth, change and increasing complexity, with a strong focus on governance excellence, sustainability and long-term value creation.
Nell brings extensive organisational and international management expertise across the association sector, including the delivery of complex, large-scale conferences and events. Known for embracing new opportunities and providing clear strategic direction, she thrives in dynamic and often disruptive environments, consistently delivering measurable outcomes while effectively managing change.
At the heart of her work is a genuine passion for building meaningful relationships. She is deeply committed to her clients, the mentoring and development of high-performing teams, and navigating complex challenges with integrity and clarity. This approach has earned the respect of industry peers, suppliers and stakeholders alike.
Nell’s career is underpinned by a strong commitment to operational excellence, ethical leadership, and empowering teams to deliver exceptional service and lasting impact.
Steven D'Alessandro
Professor of Marketing
Edith Cowan University
Professor Steven D’Alessandro is a Professor of Marketing at Edith Cowan University and an applied consumer behaviour researcher who focuses on how people *actually* make decisions in service settings—especially when time pressure, uncertainty, and digital signals (reviews, ratings, reputation) are doing the heavy lifting.
He has published widely in leading international journals and has authored 12 books in marketing education across marketing research, consumer behaviour and services marketing, published with major houses including Oxford University Press, Cengage Learning, Taylor & Francis and Pearson Education. ([
Steven is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour and has served on grant research teams responsible for A$153 million over his career. (He holds a PhD from The University of Western Australia and has been recognised by ANZMAC with its Distinguished Marketing Educator of the Year Award (2012). In 2024 he was elected a fellow of this society
On this panel, Steven will translate consumer psychology into practical implications for accommodation and business events operators—why booking windows have compressed, what’s driving volatility, and how “trust signals” now convert (or kill) demand faster than a poorly worded cancellation policy.
Zane Colling
Regional Sales Manager
Encore Event Technologies
Zane Colling is a results‑driven leader with more than 15 years of experience across Sales & Sales Management, Hospitality, Production, Event and Project Management, and Product Development. Renowned for his human‑centric leadership style, he has built a strong reputation for guiding high‑performing teams and driving consistent sales growth through collaboration, empowerment, and shared success.
Zane believes that growth is inspired by human connection—and accomplished through the power of production. This philosophy underpins his passion for Sales Leadership, where he focuses on developing people, elevating performance, and creating meaningful outcomes for customers, businesses, and teams.
Working across multiple markets throughout APAC, Zane is known for his adaptability, strategic mindset, and ability to lead diverse teams across dynamic commercial environments.
With a proven ability to influence, innovate, and execute, Zane continues to champion progress, performance, and people‑first leadership at Encore Event Technologies.
Erwin Losekoot
Course Coordinator
Tourism & Hospitality Management
Dr Erwin Losekoot FIH, FRGS, FHEA is Senior Lecturer at ECU University in Perth, Australia. After 10 years of operational hospitality experience with P&O Cruises, Sheraton and Crowne Plaza hotels he previously taught at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK), Auckland University of Technology (Auckland, NZ), RMIT University (Saigon, Vietnam) and NHL Stenden (Leeuwarden, The Netherlands). His PhD (AUT, 2015) was on the airport customer experience and investigated hospitality in non-hospitality settings. He has published journal papers and book chapters and presented at conferences such as CHME and CAUTHE on the nature of hospitality and hostmanship and how we can create hospitable spaces. He is Book Review Editor for Tourism Planning & Development and Editorial Board member/Associate Editor for Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, Research in Hospitality Management and Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing.
SPONSORS
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the Leaders’ Summit.
LOCATION
Grand River Ballroom – Pan Pacific Perth
207 Adelaide Terrace, Perth WA 6000
CONTACT
Questions? Contact us on (08) 9321 7701 or email grm@ahawa.asn.au