2026 SPEAKERS

Duncan McLaren is the owner-operator and General Manager of Econo Lodge Border Gateway Wodonga, a 14-room Econo Lodge franchise within the Choice Hotels network in regional Victoria. As a hands-on hotelier, Duncan is involved across all areas of the business, from day-to-day operations and guest...

As Regional Director for STR, a CoStar Group company, Matthew Burke oversees the Asia-Pacific region excluding China, drawing on two decades of hospitality experience in operations and revenue management. He focuses on helping industry stakeholders maximise the value of data intelligence by...

Emma Hynes is Director of Operations – Australasia & Pacific for IHG Hotels & Resorts, responsible for the performance of more than 40 hotels across Australia, including the Luxury & Lifestyle portfolio. Appointed in 2022, she leads hotel operations with a focus on performance, owner...

Deputy Editor at Travel Weekly Australia and writer and speaker on authentic voice for women. With 7+ years’ experience as a B2B journalist across travel, media, insurance and finance, I specialise in sharp, story-led coverage and industry insight.

With more than 25 years of hospitality experience Caspar brings a valuable, composed, and universal leadership style into the businesses he leads. AQ, and EQ are some of his strongest assets. Caspar is well known industry thought leader, who is change-savvy, a driven team motivator, a mentor, and ...

David Brook is the General Manager of Paradise Resort Gold Coast and a 40-year hospitality veteran, with senior roles across Australia, the UK and the South Pacific with major hotel groups including Hilton, Accor and Carlson. Over the past 15 years, he has led the resort’s transformation into one...

With a career spanning over 16 years in the accommodation industry, Lisa Gallagher has cultivated a rare, 360-degree perspective of the hospitality sector. Her professional journey is defined by a versatile ability to pivot across key operational pillars—seamlessly transitioning between front...

Jackie is President of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Internation for Asia Pacific, and Chair of the HSMAI Academy.  She is an experienced senior business strategist with over 20 years’ experience in developing and improving digital products to achieve the best customer...

Charlotte is a Sydney-based travel trade journalist, travel writer and TV producer. With bylines in Signature Luxury Travel & Style and Travel Weekly, she has international media experience and is a self-professed globetrotter, content producer, and story finder. Key interests include luxury...

Mundanara’s cultural heritage is connected to the Wonnarua and Bunjalung people on her mother’s side and the Birri-Gubba and Gangalu on her father’s side. Mundanara grew up in Redfern NSW with her 8 sisters and moved to her father’s country in the early 90’s. Coming from a family that has been...

Natalie Godward is the Chief Executive Officer of NSW Tourism Association - NSW Tourism Industry Council and peak body for tourism. As the organisation’s inaugural CEO, Natalie has led the establishment and growth of NSWTA, supporting industry programs, partnerships and advocacy initiatives that...

Lachlan Harris is the Group Director of Commercial at La Vie Hotels & Resorts, leading the company's commercial strategy across sales, marketing, revenue management, distribution, partnerships, and business development throughout the Pacific region. With more than 30 years of hospitality...

Moana Heal is a Principal Solution Engineer with Oracle Hospitality across JAPAC, helping hotel groups rethink how technology can support their operations, growth and long-term strategy. With more than 20 years of hotel operations experience across Australia and New Zealand, Moana brings a...

Janette Illingsworth | CEO & Principal Executive Coach, Worth Coaching Janette Illingsworth is an International Coaching Federation - Professional Certified (PCC) Executive Coach and leadership specialist with three decades of experience across hospitality, tourism and complex service-led...

I'm a digital marketing expert with 15 years experience supporting hotels and hospitality businesses across APAC. I'm here as part of the Talk Agency team. We leverage Claude, ads, content, SEO and web to drive more direct guest relationships for your hotel. At a lower cost. We're...

With more than 20 years of experience in Hotel, Travel and Hospitality businesses across the globe, Bert is the trusted key contact for many properties and venue-operators across the country. Over the years, he has become an industry expert on travel distribution and travel technology...

Ravinder Kalvakuntla is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Prompt Hospitality Tech (PHT), a specialised ICT consultancy and managed service provider built for hotel and hospitality operators across the Pacific, with its head office in Sydney.   Before founding PHT, Ravinder spent years...

Mehwish Kazim is an Interior Designer and Design Director with over 16 years of international experience delivering hospitality, residential and commercial projects across Australia, the Middle East and the USA. Her work focuses on creating thoughtful, experience-driven interiors that balance...

As the CEO of Ecotourism Australia, Elissa leads a team of dedicated professionals supporting some 2500 certified tourism operators across Australia, who are committed to protecting our natural environment, promoting our culture and heritage, and implementing sustainable tourism practices. ...

Helen, Partner at FK, is a highly respected architect with over 20 years of place-making experience locally and globally. She specialises in affordable accommodation and managed asset classes, including co-living, build-to-rent, and student accommodation. Helen brings deep expertise in...

Gareth has an extensive background in operations, having led hotels, portfolios and regions for IHG Hotels & Resorts over a period spanning more than two decades. Prior to joining Axsia HTL as Head of Asset Management, Gareth oversaw IHG’s luxury & lifestyle portfolio of hotels across...

I’m David Stubbs and I own + operate The Berry View, a boutique motel inspired more by Palm Springs than the traditional Aussie roadside stop. My background’s in property development, typically the duplex, townhouses or small apartment space. What interested me about this project is how you can...

Timo Lorenzen is a hospitality leader, General Manager, and community builder with over two decades of experience across lifestyle hotels, food & beverage, and hotel pre-openings in Australia. Currently the lyf Champion (General Manager) for Ascott's lyf Bondi Junction Sydney Timo is known...

Kirsty Ludbrook is an award-winning Creative Director, brand strategist and founder of The Ludbrook Agency, specialising in hospitality, wellness, beauty and lifestyle brands. With nearly 30 years’ experience personally designing and shaping brands across four continents, her work explores how...

With over 40 years of experience, Founding Director David Madden anchors the creation of client value in stakeholder collaboration throughout entire project lifecycles. David established MBM in 2002 following 18 years of engagement in the construction industry. Delivering technical expertise...

Cushla McFadden, director of Tom Mark Henry brings her adept creativity and systematic delivery approach to design that sees unique design resolutions realised with each project. She gains a great deal of satisfaction when a project is truly collaborative and a number of factors contribute to its...

A hospitality specialist, Justin’s career spans five continents and touches every corner of the industry. His time overseas saw him train wait staff who served the Royal Family in London, manage guest relations at a luxury island resort in the Maldives, and open both a world-class restaurant in...

Julie Ockerby is an internationally recognised, award-winning interior and hotel designer, business leader and entrepreneur with more than 20 years’ experience across the hospitality sector. As founder of Meli Studio, Julie built and led a successful design practice specialising in hospitality and ...

Guy is a former Australian Army Officer, where he led other Commissioned Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers in both strategic headquarter environments and various deployed operational roles. During the course of Guy’s Defence career he received many medals and awards in recognition of his...

Jerry Schwartz graduated from University of Sydney in Medicine, and has since specialized into Cosmetic Surgery: he also has his own multi-faceted general practice in Matraville.  His family was always in hotels, and Jerry himself first invested in pubs. He is now CEO for the family business that...

Su-Lin Tan is a Sydney-based senior journalist with Green Street News. Most recently, she was a correspondent at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and Singapore where she covered trade, business and geopolitics. Before that, she was at the Australian Financial Review (AFR), covering real...

Jennifer Ngu is the Founder and Creative Director of Kahlo Collective, helping boutique hotels become more distinctive, desirable and commercially valuable. Her approach brings together brand strategy, interiors and marketing under one creative vision. Most recently, she led the creative direction...

Emily Stephens is the founder of The Accommodation Project, where she helps accommodation owners and managers build simple, practical systems that improve profitability, strengthen operations, and make running a property more manageable. With more than 25 years' experience across motel, hotel...

Callie van der Merwe is a registered Architect specialising in Interior design, specifically in the application of neurodesign and neuroarchitecture as a meaningfull performance enhancers of people and place. Within COOOP.co they have developed a methodology called Envirohacking as a strategic...

Alicia Szerszyn is a seasoned hospitality professional with over 25 years of experience across Food & Beverage, Sales, and Marketing. Her career began internationally with a winter season at Mammoth Mountain, California (2000–2001), before returning to Australia to join Accor at Mercure Resort...

David Thompson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Myma.ai,a global AI platform purpose-built for the hospitality industry. With more than 30 years of hotel and tourism experience, David has held leadership roles with major hotel brands before founding Myma.ai in 2019. Under his leadership, the platform...

I’m The Hotel IT Guy — a former Amadeus and former Mews executive and co-founder of Brilliant Hotelsoftware (later Itesso, acquired by Amadeus), with over 30 years of experience in global hospitality technology.I’ve spent my career helping hotels—from boutique independents to global chains—make...

Anna Verghese is the Founding Director of Cerulean, an independent, client-side development, programme and project management consultancy devoted to the realisation of exceptional built spaces. With over 20 years of international experience across Australia, APAC, EMEA and the USA, Anna has led...

Kelley Wacher is a seasoned professional known for her expertise as a presenter, facilitator, business mentor, corporate trainer, and inspirational speaker.With over 20 years of experience in leadership, sales, and customer service, she has developed a strong reputation for building trust and...

Frank is a hospitality technology executive with deep expertise across hospitality, enterprise software and management consulting. A frequent industry speaker, he shares insights on AI, operational efficiency, business process integration, staff compensation strategies, yield management and revenue ...

DR STACEY ASHLEY CSP Future Proofing CEOs: Speaker | Author | Coach People describe me as the leader’s leader. The person who can help to make the complex simple. Able to offer the simple, practical, next step, in a strategic context. The person leaders lean on when they are facing situations and ...

Patrick is a seasoned industry expert with over 40 years of experience in the travel and hospitality technology industries.  He has in-depth knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region where he spent almost 30 years working for global organizations based out of Hong Kong and Singapore.  At Oracle Patrick...

Sundip Mace is the founder of Sun Maison, a brand advisory dedicated to building the kinds of places people want to belong to. She works with hotel owners, investors, and developers across luxury, wellness, and lifestyle to build brands that strengthen asset value, command a premium, and earn...

Julianne Bagnato is Co-Founder and Operations Manager at Brae - a renowned restaurant, farm & luxury accommodation experience in regional Victoria, known for its exceptional food, service and unique guest experience.  Julianne's expertise lies in optimizing operational...

With more than 35 years of executive leadership in hospitality, Kylie Lukic has built a distinguished career leading multi-property hotel portfolios across Internationally recognised hotel brands, boutique accommodation groups and independent hospitality businesses. Renowned for delivering...

Mel Porter is a third-generation publican and operator of Porters Plainland Hotel, located in Plainland, in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane. This year marks a significant milestone for the business, celebrating 80 years of ownership by the Porter family and a proud legacy of...

Sharon CauldwellArea Director, Sales & Distribution — Crystalbrook Collection Sharon Cauldwell has spent more than three decades in upper upscale and luxury hotels and resorts — from capital cities and regional centres to leisure destinations. She has a strong track record of improving revenue ...

Gina McNamara is a Director of Billé Group and Co-Founder of The Tamborine Boutique Hotel in Queensland's Scenic Rim, as well as the Founder of Cassis Red Hill Luxury Villas on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Gina ignited her passion for curating unique guest experiences in the hospitality...

Damian Corney is an Australian designer and TV presenter. For over 20 years he has built a reputation for a distinctive eye — equally at home designing & specifying wallpapers and interiors for high end brands, styling walls on The Block, or other TV shows including Grand Designs, My Reno Rules ...

Now based in his native Melbourne, Joe heads up the firm’s drive into the Asia-Pacific region while leading the creative direction of all our projects worldwide. Previously, he spent some 20 years in London, working at senior level with two highly respected design studios, before joining shortly...

Pip is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Campus Living Villages. She has a background and a Masters degree in sustainability in the built environment. Pip has spent the last 15 years working across the private and public sectors to develop, influence and implement policy, strategy and programs...

Markus is the CEO of LIKE MAGIC (likemagic.tech), the platform behind seamless digital guest and employee journeys for hotels and serviced apartment operators. He built the company from the ground up and spun it out of SV Group, and today it is live with TFE Hotels (Adina Apartment Hotels, Vibe, A...

Matthew brings some 20 years’ experience consulting and engaging with the hospitality industry through providing leading technology solutions and services.  Matthew’s deep industry knowledge extends further with prior Hotel and F&B operational leadership roles in Sydney and London.  Matthew...

Mei McNamara is an experienced ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Manager at Salter Brothers, a leading hotel real estate investment firm. With a strong background in real estate, sustainability and engineering, Mei is dedicated to driving positive impact through responsible investment...

With half her career in Copenhagen, Olivia Chylinski is a Interior Designer with global experience spanning 14 years. From projects in Australia, Portugal, London and Japan. Her expertise lies in the hotel and hospitality sectors with a passion for human-first design and material...