Jessica Gomez-Duran has a varied career, primarily in the non-profit sector, that spans nearly two decades. Her key areas of expertise include strategy development, sustainability, marcomms, project management, and relationship management. Jessica has a BA in Geography and French from Leeds University and a Master's in Leadership for Sustainable Development from Forum for the Future.

Megan graduated in 2022 from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing and Tourism Management. She won the Tourism Industry NZ Trust Academic Scholarship and participated as a stakeholder member in the MBIE innovation programme for tourism recovery. Megan brings a valuable youth perspective to The Centre for GOOD Travel's advisory board.

Kristin Dunne is Director of Destination Strategy at Miles Partnership. Previously Kristin led Tāpoi Te Moananui ā Toi | Tourism Bay of Plenty as Tumuaki | Chief Executive where their Strategy ‘Te Hā Tapoi’ is recognised as an exemplar globally as a framework for regenerative Destination Management.

Regina Scheyvens is Professor of International Development Massey University in New Zealand, where she combines a passion for teaching with research on tourism, community empowerment and sustainable development, especially focusing on the South Pacific. Along with books on ‘Tourism for Development: Empowering Communities’, ‘Tourism and Poverty’ and ‘Inclusive Tourism Development’, she has published many articles on related themes such as indigenous tourism development, and the role of the private sector in contributing to SDGs.

Carla Rey Vasquez is the global citizen manager at Education New Zealand. Her background also includes experience working with the Centres of Asia Pacific Excellence and AFS Intercultural Programs. We are thrilled to have Carla's global citizenship expertise on our board of trustees and excited to develop innovative ways in which travel in New Zealand and the Pacific can contribute towards global citizenship education.

For the past two decades, Michelle Holliday has inspired with her thought leadership and vision. As a writer, presenter, facilitator and researcher, her work centers around “thrivability” — a set of perspectives and practices based on a view of organizations and communities as dynamic living systems. To that end, she brings people together and helps them discover ways they can feel more alive, connect more meaningfully with each other, and serve life more powerfully and effectively through their work.

Luana Scowcroft grew up in the tourism industry in Rarotonga, so the manaaki of manuhiri (visitors) is in her blood. Luana’s tourism experience extends to building and running a purpose built eco resort, Ikurangi Eco Retreat, setting up the Mana Tiaki programme in the Cook Islands, leading the visitor engagement work for the Department of Conservation and chairing the Tiaki - Care for NZ governance group in Aotearoa. A mum to two young kids, Luana is passionate about regenerative tourism and feels a deep sense of responsibility to shift tourism so it supports host communities, the whenua and culture to thrive.

Anna Pollock is a renowned researcher, strategist, and change catalyst in the tourism and hospitality sector. Passionate about its potential to generate well-being and wealth, she emphasizes the need for responsible management, respecting the interconnectedness of all life. Anna's visionary insights have shaped the industry, foreseeing trends like wellness, sustainability, experiential development, climate change impact, and evolving traveller values. Anna excels in making sense of complex information and empowering others to take meaningful action. Anna works tirelessly through her initiative, Conscious Travel, to expedite the paradigm shift that will redefine the future of tourism.

Dianne Dredge is Director of the Australian-based social enterprise, The Tourism CoLab. The CoLab delivers online education and place-based journeys that specialise in [un]thinking, [un]doing and [re]imagining a different kind of tourism. Dianne draws from 25+ years of experience in consulting, policy advisory, research, education and community wealth-building roles. She has published 8 books and over 200 research papers on tourism, policy, practice and education. Dianne is also co-founder of Designing Tourism, a Tasmanian-based social enterprise that delivers experimental projects that shift how destinations, communities, and governments plan, manage and engage in the future of tourism.

Lee-Anne Jago (Ngāti Māhuta, Ngāti Pou, Ngāti Raukawa) along with her husband Todd (Ngāti Raukawa)owns Waka Abel Tasman in Kaiteriteri, New Zealand. Lee-Anne is the proud mother of Awatea and Aria, has 20 years’ experience guiding, instructing and managing adventure tourism enterprises, and has competed nationally and internationally in waka ama competitions. Waka is central to her life and to her whanau’s (family) life. Waka Abel Tasman offers waka experiences in the Abel Tasman National Park within a cultural framework of Māori tikanga and world view. Manaaki moana, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua - Care for the sea, care for the people, move forward as one – is their ethos and they place their community at the heart of everything they do in their business and are passionate about uplifting rangatahi (young people) and supporting their community to thrive.

Dr. Nancy Gard McGehee is the R.B. Pamplin Professor in Hospitality and Tourism Management for the Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. Since 1993 her research and teaching emphasis has been on innovation in tourism development, domestically and internationally. Nancy received the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Excellence in International Research, is a Fulbright Specialist Program Awardee, and was cited as an Outstanding Woman in Travel Research by Women in Travel and Tourism International (WITTI). She is co-editor of the Journal of Travel Research alongside Professor Jim Petrick of Texas A&M.

Susanne Becken is a Professor of Sustainable Tourism at Griffith University in Australia and the Principal Science Investment Advisor (Visitor) in the Department of Conservation, New Zealand, where she works at the science-policy interface with a particular focus on climate change and the tourism-environment nexus. Susanne is a member of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel, the Travalyst Independent Advisory Group and the New Zealand Government Tourism Data Leadership Group. She is an elected Fellow of the International Academy of the Study of Tourism. In 2019, she was awarded the prestigious UNWTO Ulysses Award for her contribution to tourism knowledge.