Team

Evan Hall

Evan Hall

Chief Executive Officer

Evan is an economist with extensive experience in Federal and State industry policy and advocacy. A recognised tourism industry leader, Evan joined Tourism Council WA in May 2011 as Chief Executive Officer following five years at the Tourism & Transport Forum as National Policy Director.

Evan is also the current Chair of the Australian Tourism Industry Council, responsible for national tourism advocacy and industry development programs, including the Australian Tourism Awards.

Evan was previously an elected official with the Community & Public Sector Union, directing federal advocacy and industrial campaigns on immigration, customs and quarantine issues and in the commercial broadcasting and telecommunications sectors.

Leslee Hall

Leslee Ireland

Chief Operating Officer

Leslee is an award-winning and experienced communications professional, specialising in media relations, writing and copy editing, and social media management. Before joining Tourism Council WA in 2014 as Communications Manager, her roles included Communications Officer for an agricultural advocacy group and journalist for a major regional newspaper. Leslee holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from UWA as well as a Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Curtin University. As Chief Operating Officer, Leslee is responsible for the planning and implementation of Tourism Council WA’s operational, communications, media, public relations, event and marketing activities.

Cheryl Smyth

Cheryl Smyth

Manager Member Services

With experience in Client Management and HR across Not for Profit and commercial businesses, Cheryl is passionate about delivering great customer experiences and continuous improvement. Leading the Member Services team, Cheryl enjoys the variety of tourism operators the team gets to support to improve their business outcomes every day.

Cheryl enjoys getting into nature when not at work and having lived, worked and travelled overseas, she still believes the best beaches are found right here in WA.

Monique Parsons

Monique Parsons

Membership Officer

Monique has spent most of her career in Retail Management in varied roles, before moving to WA from Queensland in 2022 and joining Tourism Council WA as a Membership Officer. Having travelled extensively throughout Australia and overseas, Monique has been enjoying exploring WA on her time off.

Donna

Donna Rieckmann

Membership Officer

Donna has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Affairs & Business from Florida State University and a Degree in Paralegal Studies from New York University.

Donna has over 30 years of experience working around the globe. As a Senior Program Manager with JMW Consultants based in New York, she was responsible for designing, marketing and delivering corporate leadership events and education programs world-wide. This involved end-to-end education program management for global Fortune 500 companies with a strong emphasis on building stakeholder relationships, outstanding customer service and delivering breakthrough results.

Donna is an avid tennis player, dog lover and a Land Rover enthusiast. She and her family love to explore Western Australia on off road adventures, including one epic journey driving the Canning Stock Route!

Fiona Dent

Fiona Dent

Membership Officer

After completing her bachelor degree in media and communications at Edith Cowan University, Fiona was keen to get involved in a customer focused career. She has a passion for quality customer service and loves the fast-paced nature of the tourism industry. With her family spread all over the world, Fiona enjoys taking international trips to see them whenever she can. Having grown up in the Great Southern, Fiona loves to retreat to her hometown for some R&R and to visit her two beloved labradoodles. 

steph panaiia

Steph Panaiia

Membership Officer

After graduating from Curtin University majoring in Tourism & Hospitality, Steph has worked in many fast-paced events focused roles at Seven West Media and most recently, Optus Stadium. Steph joined Tourism Council WA to apply her studies as she has a passion for customer service and wanted to connect closely with the tourism industry in WA. Steph’s favourite destination in the world is Japan. But as much as she loves travelling the world, she still believes WA is the most beautiful.

Rachel Park

Office & Accounts Administrator

Joining Tourism Council WA in 2021, Rachel’s experience in Accounts and Payroll is a valued asset to the team. Rachel enjoys assisting the team and valued members achieve goals with successful outcomes.

Since moving to Perth from New Zealand in 2011 with her family, Rachel has experienced destinations that WA and its stunning coastline has to offer.

Elena Morabito

Elena Morabito

Communications Officer

Elena studied journalism in Toronto and Perth and graduated Curtin University with a degree in Journalism and International Relations. Elena worked as a journalist at the only daily regional newspaper in WA, before combining her passions for tourism and communications at Tourism Council WA. A polyglot with French and Australian roots, Elena enjoys discovering new countries, making ceramics, and going on adventures with her dog.

Anne Newton

Industry Programs Administrator

Anne joins TCWA from small business as both a Founder/Managing Director and Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, after graduating at 23. 

After studying Psychology in Perth, then Complementary Medicine in England, Anne worked as a Health Therapist before moving into Organisational Development, then Corporate Health, focussed on people and teams. Her programs covering personal development, selling , service, challenging communication and wellness have been attended by people from all industries across SME’s, Multinationals, Government and Non-Profits. She also developed a niche in the automotive industry spanning 25 years. 

Anne brings to this role a commitment to people having skills and resilience to work well and be well. A former equestrian and age-group triathlete, when not working or taking time out, she’s training for her next sporting adventure!

Amanda Kendle

Trainer

Amanda Kendle combines work in social media and blogging with her love of travel: she has run a consultancy teaching and training small business owners how to use social media and other online technologies for promotions since 2010, does regular public speaking on social media and travel topics and teaches undergraduates at Murdoch University how to run their own business.

Amanda's travel blog at NotABallerina.com has been online since 2005 and she has run The Thoughtful Travel Podcast since 2016, with episodes now being downloaded thousands of times each week. She's a member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers and is writing a book on thoughtful travel.

Craig Wells

Trainer

Craig Wells from WellStrategic isn’t quite your average photographer. He specialises in premium virtual tours and photography for the tourism industry. He maintains a broad list of clients from casinos, airports and remote eco resorts to luxury charter vessels and adventure companies. He has also worked in the advertising and branding industry as a Director of Strategy working directly with clients. This role was heavily engaged in TV and radio commercials, media budgets, SEO, digital campaigns, company rebrands, web development/design and more. Craig also has over 15 years of B2B Sales and Marketing experience and is a fully certified “Google Trusted Photographer”.

Gloria Zhang

Trainer

Gloria is the founder and Managing Director of Intlang Consulting Group. She has played a pivotal role in promoting the Western Australian tourism industry as a Chinese Consumer Behaviour Advisor, she assisted Tourism WA in strategising the China Campaign in 2010, contributing the Chinese marketing slogan “体验非凡” (Experience the Difference), and providing the script for both the traditional and simplified Chinese versions of the Tourism WA website. She also helped standardise Western Australian destination names in Chinese in early 2018. With expertise in Asian marketing, business development, cross-cultural communication training, and commercial translation, Gloria has served as a business advisor across multiple sectors. Originally from Beijing and Shanghai, she migrated to Australia in 1997 and possesses a deep, multi-dimensional understanding of Australasian business practices and cross-promotion. Fluent in both English and Chinese, Gloria has also provided English & Mandarin voiceovers for various promotional videos.