The Tourism Collective Team
Our team lives and breathes our values and shares our vision to enable tourism for a better future. We are a collective of lifelong tourism people, who value the connections with have with our peers, and absolutely love the work we are able to achieve in partnership with our clients.
paige rowett
FOUNDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
Living on the land in the beautiful Clare Valley tourism region in South Australia, I have a strong connection with my community and the environment.
I take pride and responsibility in being able to connect the dots between the lived reality for people in regional and rural Australia, and the opportunity tourism provides - demonstrating how to shape tourism outcomes to help communities achieve their collective aspirations.
At the end of the day, success for me is where tourism nourishes the wellbeing of local people and rejuvenates our special places, and our communities have the resilience so our future generations have the opportunity to enjoy living out on the land like I currently do.
REBECCA WHITE
FOUNDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
I've had the privilege of working across the tourism ecosystem for over 2 decades, however, my mindset toward tourism has changed in recent years as become more aware of the increasingly complex challenges we face as humanity.
Travel is a true privilege, not a right. And while it has great potential to help solve the many crises we face, it must only happen in a place where it is leaving the local communities and precious ecosystem it operates in better than it found it.
What this looks like for me is combining my decades of existing tourism knowledge and relationships, with newer learnings and lived experience, to help tourism leaders across government, regional tourism organisations and businesses bring a positive impact lens to all they do - helping them to co-create responsible, resilient and outcomes in their roles or businesses that are not just economically sustainable, but also give back to their local communities and support environmental regeneration.
JACLYN THORNE
MANAGING DIRECTOR
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.
LACHLAN SWAN
DESTINATION MARKETING SPECIALIST
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.
BROOKE LIEBELT
Programs Manager & Destination SPECIALIST
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.
NIC COOPER
REGENERATIVE TOURISM SPECIALIST
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.