The Tourism Collective
Team

A multi-disciplinary team of experienced, passionate and down-to-earth tourism practitioners

Paige, Rebecca and Jaclyn have employed a team of highly specialised tourism experts to join them to achieve our vision of enabling tourism for a better future.

We have been working in the tourism industry for a many (50+ combined!) years, including time spent working in STO’s, RTOs, Local Government and with private enterprises directly contributing to the Visitor Economy.

This experience means that we intimately understand the broad range of stakeholders across the various levels of the visitor economy, and combined with our experience, we consistently deliver outcomes that affects real change.

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paige rowett

FOUNDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR

  • Destination Planning
  • Visitor Economy Measurement
  • Local Government Engagement
  • Community and Industry Engagement
  • Strategic Visitor Economy Projects
  • Destination Marketing Planning and Implementation

Living in the beautiful Clare Valley tourism region in South Australia, my passion absolutely sits with helping regional communities drive growth of their visitor economies, whether it is through improved planning, marketing implementation, or strategic projects.

My current focus (or passion if you like!) is looking at how regional leadership teams can better engage communities to ensure all destination management and marketing planning and investment reflects the needs of their locals and their special places.

My Qualifications

  • Regenerative Tourism by Design (Tourism CoLab)
  • Bachelor of Management (Major Marketing, Minor Tourism)
  • Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning – Secondary School

What you may not know about me…

I'm a Clare Valley local, and together with my family, we are 5th generation farmers, owning and managing Mernowie Poll Merinos sheep stud, along with a mixed broadacre enterprise.

Apart from chasing after our 3 active kids, I love playing competitive netball, attending gym, and I'm also a AFL and Geelong Cats fan. I'm also a keen gardener, often seen mowing our expanse of lawn and tending to my veggie patch.

I'm also very involved in my local community, sitting on numerous committees including School, Netball and most recently I'm part of a the Gilbert Valley Community Association, tasked with planning and potential development a significant community infrastructure project in my region.

My travel highlights reel

After travelling through Europe and the UK in my early 20s and falling in love with the Greek Islands, I’m loving getting to know my own backyard, spending time around our beautiful country with the family – but only when it’s not seeding, haymaking, harvest, or sheep sale times of the year!

My visits to Parliament House and the War Memorial in Canberra while on a recent work trip have been recent travel highlights. I also loved our trip to New Zealand’s South Island, especially choppering over and landing on top of Fox Glacier.

What’s next on the bucket list?

It's #vanlife holidays for my family at the moment - with 3 kids under 9 we look for easy and active adventures exploring destinations close to home. We recently spent time in the stunning Grampians at Halls Gap, with the 5 of us (including our 3 year old) climbing the Pinnacles, which was amazing!

I also have a growing list of places around Australia that I can't wait to explore, including the stunning beach life along WA's South West and the Geelong and the Bellarine, as well as the NSW Blue Mountains and South Coast.

A trip to over to Canada is hopefully on the cards in the longer term future, but we may head to New Zealand again with kids to get back on the skis (although, I think I’ll be hanging out with the kids on the easy slopes)!

REBECCA WHITE

FOUNDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR

  • Destination PLanning
  • Visitor Servicing Strategy
  • Destination Marketing Planning
  • Cx Design for Visitor Experiences
  • Customer Advocacy + Reputation Management
  • Inbound / International Marketing
  • Community + Industry Engagement
  • Strategic Visitor Economy Projects
Rebecca White Tourism eSchool

Prior to The Tourism Collective, I was fortunate to have over a decade of hands-on tourism marketing experience with the South Australia Tourism Commission, including all areas of trade and consumer marketing. My favourite work was always supporting many fantastic SA tourism business grow their international customer base.

My current passion is helping destinations and tourism businesses  bring a sustainability lense to all they do - helping them to co-create  responsible, resilient and sustainable visitor economies and businesses, that are not just economically sustainable, but also give back to their local communities and support environmental regeneration.

My Qualifications

  • Regenerative Tourism by Design (Tourism CoLab)
  • Bachelor of Business (Tourism Management)
  • Advanced Diploma in Tourism (Event Management)
  • Certificate IV Frontline Management

What you may not know about me…

I grew up on a farm in the southern Clare Valley in South Australia, which my parents still run. We spend a lot of time there during school holidays, my boys are budding farmers and love the freedom of farm life.

Many a family holiday was spent exploring Australia, watching travel shows such as Getaway and reading Dad’s Australian Geographic Magazines inspired my early love of travel and the great outdoors.

Any spare minute I have you can find me pottering in the garden (my second love after travel and tourism is gardening!), reading (i'm always learning!) or having an adventure in nature with my boys.

My travel highlights reel

As with many of us in the Tourism Industry, I adore travelling, exploring new places and immersing myself is stunning natural landscapes - I've explored many corners of Australia and NZ!

Some recent travel highlights include Tasmania's wilderness experiences such as Cradle Mountain, Corinna and Freycinet Peninsula, camping  throughout Central Australia, including Uluru, King’s Canyon and the Western Macs, the very precious wet tropics of the Daintree where it meets the Great Barrier Reef at Cape Tribulation, and snorkelling the crystal clear waters of Ewen Ponds in South Australia's Limestone Coast.

What’s next on the bucket list?

My two sons love anything active and adventurous, so my husband and I take our boys camping, hiking, kayaking and cycling as often as we can – we have a long Australian and New Zealand travel bucket list we are working through.

 

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JACLYN THORNE

MANAGING DIRECTOR

  • Consumer and Social Research
  • Cx Design for Visitor Experiences
  • Regional Tourism Governance and Management
  • Destination Stewardship (Management and Marketing)
  • Community and Industry Engagement
  • Regional Events
  • Regional Workforce
  • People and Culture

My job, career and life passion are all interconnected, and I absolutely love contributing to the development of world class experiences and help plan for sustainable growth in regional destinations.

My career in tourism started in Local Government, with the Clare Valley Regional Tourism Alliance (a dynamic alliance formed by a collection of Regional Councils), to the Barossa Tourism Manager for the South Australian Tourism Commission, then onto private enterprise as the Estate Experience Manager with Chateau Tanunda, and the General Manager of Tourism Central Australia.

In recent years I moved into business ownership and have found new passion for data and insights, as one of the owners of a boutique Market Research Agency, McGregor Tan. The world now feels whole after branching out and partnering with Paige and Rebecca on our journey together.

My Qualifications

  • Qualified Professional Researcher
  • Cx design
  • Graduate Certificate in Festival and Event Design and Management
  • Bachelor of Business (Tourism Management)
  • Bachelor of Arts (International Studies)
  • Diploma of Languages (French, Italian)

What you may not know about me…

I was the Adelaide Christmas Pageant Queen in 2000 and have worked with a number of interesting events across Australia, including a wonderful community festival in Halls Creek, WA.

I lived in Alice Springs for almost 4 years with Tourism Central Australia and founded one of its most successful eateries; Loco Burrito in 2014.

When I have a spare weekend (with three young children and two businesses, that is not very often) you can find me with my girlfriends at a regional restaurant enjoying a laugh or with my husband sampling great local wines at the Good Gilbert near our home.

My travel highlights reel

I think travel is in my bones- born of Welsh parents, I am truly a nomadic person; always moving and exploring. I love nothing more than roaming the outback, hiking, bush camping with our camper trailer, and experiencing this glorious country with my family.

In addition to taking embarking on regular antipodes adventures, I have lived overseas a number of times, and have spent many months of my life travelling South America, North America, Europe, the UK and SE Asia.

What’s next on the bucket list?

Having just returned from a month in Europe visiting friends and family, we have yet to lock in the next holiday. The Gibb River Road and the Tanami are both routes we would like to do, as well as cutting through outback NSW and Qld up to FNQ would be a great break from the Southern Winter next year.

As far as international travel, we would love to walk the Shogun Trail with our boys in Japan; combining walking with history. Slow travel is a very desirable way to disconnect from the daily grind and really enjoy your surrounds. My husband was born in Spain, so in the next few years (once our kids are old enough) we have plans to take a few months to walk the Camino and to discover his family’s story.

With a career in tourism, the bucket list is never shrinking and always being added too!

LACHLAN SWAN

DESTINATION MARKETING SPECIALIST

 

  • State Tourism Marketing Strategy
  • Experienced Photographer
  • Social Media Management
  • Digital Campaign Management
  • Destination Marketing Project Management
  • Global Distribution and Marketing for State Tourism Organisation
Lachie Swan Tourism ESchool

Having been fortunate enough to spend nearly 18 years working at the South Australian Tourism Commission (10 or so of those years with Rebecca!), I’ve been in plenty of hands-on roles within the trade and consumer marketing environment, with a specialist focus in online communications and a decade in social media and content marketing roles encompassing strategy, curation, copywriting, community management, paid promotion and analytics.

Since leaving the SATC to explore new horizons in 2019, I’ve worked in Marketing and Communications for MOD, Australia’s leading future-focused museum at the University of SA. I’ve also been busy running my own social media and content representation business, with a range of clients across the tourism accommodation and destination sectors.

My Qualifications

  • Advanced Diploma of Tourism (Business)
  • Certificate IV in Business (Frontline Management)

What you may not know about me…

I’m the only city kid born to a big country family, and I spent most of my younger years hopping back and forth between Broken Hill and Adelaide, so I’m definitely a country kid at heart.

I’ve got an intense love for the ocean, and while I once surfed every other day on the beaches of Fleurieu Peninsula, my long golden locks have been replaced with a shiny bald noggin - and an eye for photography that keeps me busy in my spare time.

My travel highlights reel

I’ve been lucky enough to explore lots of places both in Australia and overseas. Having spent a couple of years living in the US, I packed my bags for home via Europe with my beautiful wife and settled back in Adelaide, with a mind set on exploring my own back yard.

From shark cage diving on Eyre Peninsula to wildlife spotting on Kangaroo Island and hanging out of plane windows over Lake Eyre, I’ve railed, flown and driven my way across much of the continent. Whether it’s kicking back on West Australian and Queensland beaches, weaving along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road or hitting the dusty roads of the outback, I’m always in my element away from home base.

With side adventures across NZ, Asia and the South Pacific, my pursuit for amazing travel experiences is pretty hard to quell, which is exactly why I love what I do.

What’s next on the bucket list?

It’s tough to go past Western Australia’s Coral Coast and North-West, from snorkelling with whale-sharks at Ningaloo to exploring the red ramparts of the Kimberley and the glistening beaches of Broome.

A road trip from Adelaide to Darwin is also on the cards, and of course a big drive trip through Tassie’s stunning wilderness and is permanently on our family’s radar.

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BROOKE LIEBELT

VISITOR ECONOMY SPECIALIST

  • State Tourism Marketing Strategy
  • Content Producer (Experienced Photographer)
  • Social Media Campaign Management
  • Digital Campaign Management
  • Destination Marketing Project Management
  • Global Distribution and Marketing for State Tourism Organisation

Like Paige, I too kicked off my tourism career in destination marketing in the Barossa with the South Australian Tourism Commission in 2007, as a graduate from the University of South Australia. Fast-forward 15 years later and I’ve enjoyed an incredibly rewarding career in tourism working in a multitude of tourism roles over the years.

Growing up and living in the gorgeous Yorke Peninsula tourism region in South Australia, I am incredibly passionate about local tourism industries and the importance they play within regional economies. The people within these communities are what motivate me to strive and prepare the next destination management strategy or marketing plan to collaborate and grow.

My current focus is working with stakeholders to better understand and create strategies on how to best manage tourism, the visitor economy and our precious ecosystem so that all can thrive equally. I have more learning to do in this space but it is one I am incredibly passionate about.

My Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Management (Marketing)
  • Bachelor of Arts (International Studies)

What you may not know about me…

I moved to Adelaide when I was 18 to complete my university studies. I was then lucky enough to work for the SATC in a number of roles and regions, including a stint in the London office looking after the UK and Central Europe regions.

I’m now back living in Minlaton with my husband, twin sons and aughter, where we live a crazy beautiful life of FIFO work, farming and consulting.

I am a coffee-lover, wanna-be jogger and chit-chatterer. I enjoy long walks, beach days and spending time with family and friends (talking over coffee of course!).

My travel highlights reel

With young children, my most recent travel highlights are trips to regional South Australia in our Jayco Swift, often sharing them with friends. We recently visited Flinders Ranges, Riverland and Adelaide - all fabulous trips!

I have been very fortunate to have travelled to a number of countries with London, Berlin, Dublin, Copenhagen and all of New Zealand being a highlight. Finding out I was having twins  whilst working in London was a significant highlight!!

Back on Australian soil, the Sunshine Coast and Darwin are my recent favourites shared with family and friends.

What’s next on the bucket list?

Plenty more camping trips locally around South Australia - we have some of the most amazing environmental landscapes and national parks that we look forward to treading lightly and exploring.

Taking our daughter on her first plane trip to either Queensland or Tasmania is definitely on the cards, and hopefully one day a long-haul flight to experience the USA. In particular taking two sport-loving sons to an NBA game and Broadway musical.

NIC COOPER

REGENERATIVE TOURISM SPECIALIST

 

  • Tourism Operator (Wild Adventures Melbourne)
  • Regenerative Tourism Design
  • Sustainable Business Operations
  • Destination Marketing
  • Community and Industry Engagement
  • Business Development
  • Global Marketing for State Tourism Organisations
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I have been involved in tourism since the age 11, when in 1995, my parents turned our family home in the south east of England into a guest house, I would earn pocket money helping out and learning to provide exceptional hospitality even as a child. Ever since, I have been obsessed with travel and spent my entire career in the tourism industry working various tourism related roles in many countries and cultures.

Prior to The Tourism Collective, I spent 5 years at Visit Victoria in the Global Markets Team as the Market Development Manager for UK & Europe, gaining consumer, trade and media, tourism marketing experience.

In recent years I realised a lifelong dream to launch my own small eco-adventure business, WAM (Wild Adventures Melbourne), on the breathtaking Mornington Peninsula where I now call home.

My passion firmly lies in regenerative tourism; designing, delivering and educating tourism that's a force for good, finding solutions to negatives tourism can cause, having a long term positive impact on the local environment and community, and of course providing exceptional experiences to our guests.

My Qualifications

  • Professional Tour Guide
  • Regen Roadmap Graduate (Regeneration Projects)
  • Certificate IV Innovation & Productivity

What you may not know about me…

I grew up in the countryside of South East England and spent my childhood going on long days of adventures in the great outdoors. This combined with being immersed in tourism from an early age, led to a career of working, living, and travelling to 75+ countries.

I met my wife at a tomato festival in Spain (La Tomatina), and we now live on the Mornington Peninsula with our baby daughter, which is the perfect adventure seekers playground to raise a family, a small tourism business, and connect with nature on a daily basis.

My travel highlights reel

Large swathes of my adult life have been spent exploring different parts of the world, for me there is no better way of opening your mind than connecting with other destinations, people and cultures.

My most vivid and fond memories stem from travel with highlights including tour guiding across Europe, Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and going on safari through Africa, spending two months on the Trans-Mongolian from Beijing to Moscow (in winter!), sailing in Turkey, Croatia and from Colombia to Panama, road tripping in North America and Central America, to incredible outdoor adventures and treks in South America, Australia and New Zealand.

What’s next on the bucket list?

Although I have spent a decent amount of time travelling in Australia, I’ve barely scratched the surface so can’t wait to explore more of this vast diverse and incredible country with The Coral Coast and The Kimberley, Northern Tassie, and the Eyre Peninsula high on the list!

Further afield, we are looking forward to introducing our daughter to our families in the UK & Europe and Bali.

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