Tourism Australia has strengthened its International Division, with the appointment of new Regional General Managers for two of its most important traditional Western markets - the United States and Continental Europe.

Eva Seller has been promoted to the position of Regional General Manager Continental Europe while Jane Whitehead will take up the role of Regional General Manager Americas in the coming months.

Jane is currently Vice President Marketing for Qantas in North America.  She started her career as an award-winning journalist at the Australian Financial Review, and in her time at Qantas was instrumental in managing strategy development as well as running the Qantas investor relations program.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy believes Ms Whitehead’s deep understanding of the North American and Australian travel industries will be invaluable in her new role.

“Jane’s business acumen and strategy development experience will be of substantial benefit in achieving our 2020 goals and broader objectives,” he said.

Ms Whitehead replaces Daryl Hudson, who advised the national tourism agency earlier this year that he would not renew his contract when it expired in late 2012.

Eva is a long term employee of Tourism Australia, having joined the national tourism agency in 1999.

“Eva has held a number of senior roles within Tourism Australia in the distribution and consumer areas and is well known within Continental European and Australian stakeholder groups, which is a big asset. She has a strong background in destination marketing and is fluent in German, English and French,” Mr McEvoy said.

Tourism Australia’s current Regional General Manager, Continental Europe, Katherine Droga, based in Frankfurt, has returned to Tourism Australia’s corporate HQ in Sydney to take up a new strategic role focused on revitalising the key inbound markets of Japan and Korea.

For Tourism Australia, the Americas region covers the United States, its fourth largest international market, in addition to Canada and the emerging South American market, including Brazil.

In Europe, outside of the United Kingdom, Tourism Australia focuses its activities in the primary western inbound markets of France, Germany and Italy.

At the same time as welcoming these new appointments, Tourism Australia says farewell to one of the agency’s most highly respected and longest serving executives, Maggie White. Ms White has decided to finish up in her role as Regional General Manager South and South East Asia and Gulf at the end of the year, to move back to Melbourne to be closer to her family.

Recruitment for Ms White’s replacement will commence next week. She will remain with Tourism Australia until the end of the year to allow for a smooth handover to her successor.