Commitment to innovation and leadership recognised with Best Event Professional Award
Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s Event maestro has picked up another deserved accolade.
TIA’s Director of Marketing, Partnerships and Events, Emily Byrne, has been named New Zealand’s Best Event Professional
in the 2018 New Zealand Event Association Awards. The Awards were announced at a gala evening in Auckland last night.
Emily has been with TIA since 2014 and leads a team which each year successfully delivers TRENZ, Tourism Summit
Aotearoa, the New Zealand Tourism Awards, Discussing Tourism Regional Forums and other events. She has also been given
responsibility for managing and growing TIA’s strategic partnerships, both event-specific and corporate.
The New Zealand Event Award judges commented on Emily’s continuous commitment to innovation and achieving results, and
her impressive leadership qualities.
Emily says she is privileged to work in such an incredible industry. She says the award is also a win for her amazing
team.
“I am proud to deliver events that make a real difference to our tourism industry, and would like to thank the wider
industry for their great support. All TIA events have very high satisfaction ratings from those who attend, and our goal
as a team is to improve the events each year.”
TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts says the win is thoroughly deserved.
“Emily was my first hire at TIA and she’s repaid the faith we put in her many times over. Emily leads a very talented
and dedicated team that delivers our suite of leadership platforms. She is always looking at how we can do things even
better, striving for excellence and innovation while leading and growing her team. We are very proud that Emily’s work
has been recognised.”
The Best Event Professional Award follows Emily’s December win of the YoungTEC Excellence Award, which recognised her
outstanding efforts and contribution to the development of New Zealand’s tourism industry as a member of the
professional development organisation YoungTEC.
Mr Roberts also congratulated several TIA members who were also winners at the New Zealand Event Association Awards.
Crankworx Rotorua won for Best Sport Event, the Art Deco Trust picked up Best Regional Event for the Tremains Art Deco
Festival, and Warbirds over Wanaka was a double winner of Best National Event and New Zealand’s Favourite Event of the
Year.
“The New Zealand Event Association Awards recognise the highest quality events and it’s fantastic to see some of our
members held in such high regard.”
The international business-to-business travel and trade event TRENZ, managed by TIA on behalf of the Tourism Industry
New Zealand Trust, was a finalist for the Best Business Event.
See the full list of award winners of the 2018 New Zealand Event Association Awards here.
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