New Destination Rotorua boss Michelle Templer cites travel as formative influence

Michelle Templer says her experiences around the world have taught her that thriving businesses create jobs and opportunities. Photo / Supplied

A year as an American Field Scholar in the Peruvian city of Piura as a teenager played a key role in setting the direction of Michelle Templer's future career.

"It was a formative experience," said Ms Templer, who takes up the role of chief executive of the new council-controlled organisation Destination Rotorua on Monday.

Piura, in the northwest of Peru, with its desert climate, was a shock to Ms Templer, who was born and raised on a farm in Ngahinapouri, 15 minutes from Hamilton, in the lush Waikato dairy heartland.

"Piura was 100 per cent Spanish-speaking and very traditional," she said. "And at the time there were limited business opportunities and real issues around poverty and unemployment."

Her experiences in Peru fed into a belief, shaped by later studies, a career in travel and tourism, then in overseas postings for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), that thriving businesses created jobs and opportunities.

Ms Templer went to her small Ngahinapouri primary school - in a class of half a dozen children - then commuted to Melville High School in Hamilton, where she credits inspiring and passionate teachers who stressed the importance of making a difference in the world.

After doing media studies majoring in photography and video at Waikato Polytechnic and travelling, she worked for AA Travel, later moving to Travel Time Waikato.

But after several years in the travel industry, where she became increasingly interested in the business side of operations, she got interested in working with companies that were exporting.

She returned to university to study management, and a paper involving what was then Trade NZ fired her interest. A job eventually came up at NZTE in Hamilton where she ended up spending seven years, rising to regional manager, Waikato.

After a short-term posting as a trade official in Madrid, Spain, which she "absolutely loved", she put her hand up for and was appointed trade commissioner UK & Ireland in London, where she served for four years. From there she went directly to Sydney, where she spent five years as NZTE's regional director Australia Pacific.

Ms Templer, her husband Daniel and their two sons aged 9 and 13, returned to Auckland last year, where she served as NZTE's coalition sector manager until stepping down for the Destination Rotorua role.

"We realised it was time for the boys to start putting down some roots in New Zealand," she said.

The couple lease a dry stock and heifer-raising farm in the Waikato where her husband looks after the management side, which with modern farm systems he has been able to do from remote locations including London, Sydney and Auckland.

From next week, Ms Templer will live in Rotorua from Monday to Friday until the end of the school term, then the family will all relocate to their new home.

"An appeal of the Destination Rotorua job was that I really believe in business and economic vibrancy creating sustainable communities," she said.

Chairman of the Destination Rotorua board Peter Stubbs said Ms Templer was commercial and business-focused, yet understood the complexities of working in a political environment.

"She also has high-level connections, has worked in the tourism industry and has extensive experience working in international markets in business attraction and in supporting the growth of New Zealand companies," he said.

"It was also her attitude and approach that gives us confidence that she will blend well into the Rotorua community."

Michelle Templer
Role: Chief executive, Destination Rotorua
Born: Ngahinapouri, New Zealand
Age: Mid-40s
First job: Travel agent
Recently read: Open by Andre Agassi

Destination Rotorua formed on July 1 by amalgamating the former economic growth council-controlled organisation Grow Rotorua and the council's regional tourism organisation Destination Rotorua. The three functional areas of responsibility include business development, investment attraction and tourism growth.