Canopy Tours co-founder up for national award

Rotorua Canopy Tours directors James Fitzgerald (right) and Andrew Blackford opened New Zealand's only native forest zipline tourist operation. FILE

Rotorua's James Fitzgerald has been named one of three finalists in the 2014 PATA New Zealand Trust Young Tourism Leader Award.

The award is one of three Tourism Industry Awards that will be presented at the Wellington Airport Summit Dinner in Wellington on Tuesday The awards are managed by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA).

Mr Fitzgerald is the managing director of Rotorua Canopy Tours. He has "lived and breathed" the tourism industry since he left school. He started Rotorua Canopy Tours in 2012 with the aim of building one of the best zipline canopy tours in the world.

The other finalists include Tim Keeling, general manager, Qualmark. After a successful career at Tourism New Zealand, Mr Keeling took on the challenging role of leading Qualmark aged just 29. Over the past three years he has made significant improvements within the business.

Colette Leonard, hotel manager at SKYCITY Grand, Auckland rounds out the finalists. She has been in the tourism industry for 15 years, working in hospitality. Her aim is to make sure SKYCITY Grand is known as New Zealand's best five-star hotel.

There was an outstanding number of entries this year, one of the best since the award was established, said Glenys Coughlan, chairwoman of PATA New Zealand Trust.

"It's not just about the depth of talent, but the range. We received entries from across the tourism industry, from areas as diverse as outdoor guiding, hotel sales and management, research, adventure activities, regional tourism organisations, food and beverage, and Maori tourism development.

"The quality of these diverse entries shows that the tourism industry has a wealth of young talented leaders who will take us into the future and take the industry to new heights."

TIA chief executive Chris Roberts said it was crucial to have young talent coming through into leadership positions in the tourism industry.

"Under its Tourism 2025 growth framework, the industry has set itself an ambitious goal of being worth $41 billion by 2025. All of those who entered the Young Tourism Leader Award are already making a contribution - and by 2025 I expect many of them to be leading the charge.

"Congratulations to our three finalists and to all the entrants. They are all inspiring role models who are demonstrating that tourism is a fantastic career option."

For more information about the Tourism Industry Awards, go to http://tourismawards.co.nz/.