Travel DAZE Exec 2024: Day one in Cairns kicks off with a bang

Travel DAZE Exec lived up to all the hype on day one at the Cairns Convention Centre on Tuesday with delegates from across the industry

For the first time this year Travel DAZE Exec is being held alongside Canne in Cairns (CIC), an electrifying journey into the future of advertising, marketing, media, and PR curated by our sister publication B&T. In doing so, travel delegates also score access to the CIC conference and networking opportunities offering the chance to rub shoulders with marketing and media maven’s from around the world.

Day one kicked off in the main auditorium as part of main CIC stream with highlights including keynote addresses from Lisa Wilkinson and marketing legend Fernando Machado on how to avoid confusion and stay focused on the core things that might not seem that sexy, but can create a real difference.

“Good Journalism Can Change Lives” Lisa Wilkinson’s Bold Analysis Of Australia’s News Landscape

After lunch it was time to talk all things travel with eight far reaching sessions covering topics from aviation competing to greenwashing and company culture.

First up was Alicia Triggs and Justine Lally from Journey Beyond who presented a fun and engaging discussion on the age old rivalry between sales and marketing.

https://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/travel-daze-exec-2024-journey-beyonds-alicia-triggs-and-justine-lally-share-12-tips-to-bring-sales-and-marketing-closer-together/

Bunnik Tours founder Dennis Bunnik and Intrepid’s GM of marketing, Louise Laing then joined our very own Hoda Alzubaidi for a panel talk on navigating political and environmental change as travel operators. Diving into what exactly that Smarttraveller update means to the way the industry works together to support local communities in situations like last years earthquake in Morocco. 

One of travel’s most familiar faces and the founder of influencer marketing platform Tribe, Jules Lund, grabbed everyones attention with an educational presentation on how business can best use social media. Littered with tips and tricks on how to navigate the TikTok wormhole it was certainly one of the most t

The Australian aviation industry has garnered a lot of media attention in the last 18 months, largely due to a lack of competition. We brought in two of the industry’s heavy hitters in Christina Werkstetter, Sydney Airports senior VP of aviation partnerships and the CEO of Australian Airports Association, James Goodwin for a panel hosted by our editor Grant Jones to talk about the bigger picture.

Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal’s Debra Fox shared why community tourism is so important, the economic benefits for communities and the enriching ways community travel of travel can change lives. From clean drinking water solutions for disadvantaged schools to footballs (or soccer balls) that don’t burst, it was a truly heart warming presentation.

Flight Centre’s Clinton Hearne had a fun filled chat with Hoda Alzubaidi on all things workplace culture.

https://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/travel-daze-exec-2024-flight-centres-clinton-hearne-says-people-make-a-successful-business/

Susan Coghill might have one of the most important jobs in Australia as the chief marketing officer for Tourism Australia! Travel DAZE delegates were treated to a fireside chat in which our editor-at-large, Nancy Hromin picked Coghill’s brain to find out just what goes into showcasing the best country on earth.

To wrap up day one, sustainability expert and author John Pabon told the audience to spread the word when it comes to their businesses sustainability work. From the bad reputation that cruise ships get to how a partnership between a sustainable aviation fuel company and Taylor Swift could change sustainable flying Pabon demonstrated why he is one of the leading figures in this space.

Day two of Travel DAZE Exec is currently underway and we’ll have all the details in tomorrows Travel Weekly.