The Perth Convention Bureau’s newly appointed Managing Director Ross MacCulloch says he is relishing the challenge to position Western Australia as a leading business events destination in the Asia Pacific region.

Mr MacCulloch brings to his new role an extensive background in leisure, cultural and regional tourism both in Western Australia and overseas.

Most recently he was Director Destination Development with Tourism Western Australia, responsible for destination development strategies, particularly in the regions, and attracting investment.

This was his second stint with TWA, having been Tourism Development Manager for the Kimberley with its Government predecessor the Western Australian Tourism Commission from 1994 to 1999 and then Northern Area Manager until 2001.

In between Mr MacCulloch briefly ran his own tourism consultancy business in the United Kingdom and prior to that set up the Kent Tourism Alliance, the first English county tourism destination marketing organisation jointly funded by the public and private sectors.

He has authored a number of publications including a sustainable tourism development document for the World Tourism Organisation and the United Nations Environment Program and a tourism forecasting handbook for the European Travel Commission.

He was also a lecturer in tourism at the Canterbury Christ Church University College in England.

Mr MacCulloch says: “My background with the Kent Tourism Alliance has given me a good insight into the operation of private and public sector funded marketing organisations so that experience should be invaluable in my new role. Another big advantage is that I’m very familiar with the Western Australian product so it should be a fairly smooth transition from a leisure to a business tourism focus for me.”

Mr MacCulloch said he was excited to be leading the Bureau at a time when the State Government had committed substantially increased funding to marketing the State as a business tourism destination.

“I’m well aware of the Government’s expectations and I’m excited by the challenge of ensuring that as a destination we get our fair share of the business tourism cake,” he said.

“Happily, we now have the resources to make a much bigger impact in the international arena.”