HR firm Tourism Talent is expanding into Australia to help with the skills shortfall.
HR firm Tourism Talent is expanding into Australia to help with the skills shortfall.

Dedicated tourism and hospitality industry recruitment firm, Tourism Talent, has expanded from its New Zealand origins to launch operations in both New South Wales and Western Australia.

In an effort to arrest the struggling recruitment and retention of qualified and high-quality personnel working in fields of hospitality and tourism, Tourism Talent is the brainchild of Jason Hill and Dylan Rushbrook, who both hold extensive professional backgrounds in the sector from roles with Tourism New Zealand and Skycity respectively, among others. Also onboard from the start was Nuwanthie Samarakone, the Chief Executive of ICE, a talent development agency with offices in the UK, Asia and New Zealand.

Leading the newly-expanded Australian arm of the business in NSW will be former President and CEO of The World Travel Association, Chris Flynn, and Smart Tourism Principal, Karen Priest, who runs a Perth-based tourism consultation firm. Both bring decades of experience to their roles with Tourism Talent in Australia as Directors. A new website will be developed to support the company’s expansion and anticipated growth.

Tourism Talent CEO Dylan Rushbrook said the expansion into Australia was “a natural next step”.

A number of our international clients have asked when we would move into the Australian market as they have similar talent issues to that of New Zealand. We also realise that the right talent doesn’t always live in New Zealand, so expanding into Australia opens up our talent pool, and creates opportunities for professionals to move between the two markets through our services.”