New Manager for Queenstown’s Winter Festival

Thursday, 6 September 2012, 11:37 am
Press Release: Destination Queenstown

New Manager for Queenstown’s Winter Festival

Queenstown, New Zealand (6 September 2012) – Destination Queenstown has appointed business development, marketing and event specialist Lisa Buckingham as the new manager of the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival.

Ms Buckingham, currently based in Invercargill, will start her role on 15 October. Her responsibilities as Festival Manager will entail driving the strategic direction and management of the multi award-winning festival and working alongside Destination Queenstown on domestic and international marketing strategies.

Ms Buckingham brings extensive experience and strong leadership to the role. Her previous positions include Pernod Ricard Territory Manager, Head of Tourism for Venture Southland, Invercargill i-SITE Manager, and a range of events, marketing and public relation roles for companies both nationally and internationally. She has a strong background in developing and executing events, strategies and marketing plans as well as managing teams of varying sizes and building relationships with sponsors and suppliers.

Destination Queenstown CEO Graham Budd is delighted to have Ms Buckingham on board.

“Winter Festival is now a major internationally recognised event for the Queenstown region and has reached a new level in terms of the destinational marketing benefits it delivers. Our retiring manager Simon Green will be a hard act to follow but I’m confident that with Lisa’s experience and knowledge, the festival is in good hands.

“Winter Festival is a longstanding, much loved tradition which is our community’s way of announcing winter to the world and officially celebrating the start of the season ‘Queenstown-style’. It’s quite simply New Zealand’s ten coolest days of the year.

“However there are many complexities involved with the event so having a strong leader who understands the opportunities and challenges is vital for its ongoing success.”

Ms Buckingham says she’s thrilled and feels very privileged to lead the 2013 Winter Festival.

“I’m really looking forward to working with my team, the community and festival stakeholders to deliver an outstanding event that locals are proud of and want to take part in, and that visitors love.”

Ms Buckingham replaces Simon Green who retired as Festival Manager at the end of August after seven Winter Festivals.

The 39th annual Queenstown Winter Festival will be held 21-30 June 2013.

ENDS

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