Judging for the Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards is conducted by a panel of industry peers appointed by Tourism Council WA.
All judges provide their time and expertise on a voluntary basis and are educated in the entire judging process including submission assessments, scoring guidelines, undertaking site inspections/interviews and providing adequate feedback to entrants.
The objective of the Awards judging process is to fairly and independently evaluate each entry through the formalised and professional assessment process.
The appointment of judges is designed to be completely transparent and all judges must meet strict criteria as well as be a representative of the tourism industry. They possess a strong knowledge of the operations of the industry and will be, or have been, involved in tourism or a similar service at a senior management level.
Each submission is assessed by three different judges. The final score is determined by the aggregate of the three scores (individual categories include an interview score).
Professional auditors oversee the WA Tourism Awards judging process. Their role is to audit submissions for compliance, audit score sheets and check conflicts of interest and confidentiality declarations.
Please find below a list and short biography of our judges.
Pat Strahan - Chair of Judges
Pat commenced her career in the travel and tourism industry in 1984 and started her own business, Strahan Events, in 1990, organising both large and small international, national and State events as well as the annual Caravan and Camping Show and Holiday and Travel Expo. She was also CEO of Caravan Industry Australia WA for 15 years. Pat is now semi-retired and focusing on her voluntary commitments within the tourism industry as well as community events. Her involvement with the awards began in 1995 as the WA Awards Co-ordinator, then a State judge and was an Australian Awards Judge for 6 years. She is currently Chair of Judges for the WA Tourism Awards. In addition, she is Chair of Visit Mandurah and Chair of Relay For Life West Coast.
Pat was a founding member of Tourism Council WA and sat on the Board for many years and has previously sat on the Boards of the Caravan Industry Australia, Meetings Industry Association WA and the Events Industry Association, Visitor Centres WA just to name a few. In 2013 Pat was awarded the Sir David Brand Medal for her Outstanding Contribution to the Tourism Industry for which she feels very honoured.
Julian Barry
Julian Barry has worked in the tourism industry for over 30 years, predominantly in aviation and tourism development, along with the caravan and camping industry. He has previously been a state judge for both the WA Tourism Awards and the NT Tourism Awards (the Brolgas), and has also been a national judge for the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards. Julian is currently the General Manager Commercial for Airnorth, based in Perth, and holds an MBA with majors in marketing and international business.
Tabetha Beggs
Tabetha Beggs is a proud West Australian, with over 30 years’ experience in tourism marketing and stakeholder engagement. Tabetha has worked across many industry sectors including; local government, tourism, hospitality and the arts. In her current role as Tourism Development Specialist at the City of Armadale she has drawn on her experience and knowledge to assist in developing a bold new tourism strategy for the rapidly growing metropolitan city.
Tabetha’s previous roles include; Manager WA Partnerships and Industry at Tourism WA, CEO of the Kalamunda CCI, Marketing Executive for the City of Perth and Exhibitions Officer for the Royal Society of Arts (UK). She has also been actively involved with many not-for-profit organisations. She is currently the Deputy Chair of Writing WA and sit on the Boards of both Australia’s Golden Outback and the Forum Advocating Cultural and Ecotourism (FACET). She has travelled widely throughout WA and has lived and worked both internationally and regionally. She is a dedicated ambassador for Western Australia and everything it has to offer. This is Tabetha’s third year on the WA Tourism Awards judging panel.
Caroline Buck
Caroline has worked at the City of Wanneroo for more than 14 years in Economic Development, predominantly in the role of supporting and promoting the tourism businesses and destination marketing. She is responsible for implementation of the Tourism Plan for the City, including development of the Discover Wanneroo brand, creation of the website and social media channels.
Caroline strongly believes in collaboration and works closely with the RTO Destination Perth, as well as having strong relationships with neighbouring local governments. The role also involves working in partnership with many local businesses and she has built a very positive reputation for advocating on their behalf and resolving challenges
Over the past 10 years, Caroline has also established two small businesses, a luxury limousine service and the other was a restaurant and function venue in the Swan Valley. Through these businesses, she has learnt to appreciate the many challenges of establishing and operating a small business in the service and tourism industry. These lessons have strengthened her resolve to help the industry through her role in local government.
Julie Coleman
Julie has had a diverse career in public relations and marketing, running her own business, then working for the State Government and in the private sector. In 2011, Julie joined Perth Airport to manage the communications and marketing around the $1 billion redevelopment. In addition to this, in 2014, she became Manager of Corporate Affairs with responsibility for internal and external communications, community engagement, media, sponsorships and events. During this time, she developed an extensive network across the aviation and tourism sectors.
With the redevelopment nearing completion, Julie retired in mid-2016 to pursue her passion for travel and her commitment to promoting Western Australia as an outstanding tourist destination, and provide part-time consultancy services to the education and tourism sectors.
Steve Crawford
Since 1980, Steve has enjoyed a long history of engagement within Western Australia’s tourism industry mostly in senior management roles within government.
The diversity of his experience extends to tourism destination planning, research, visitor communications, trade marketing, tourism education, and business development. Steve has represented Western Australia on numerous national bodies and is recognised as a leader in his field with many accolades including National and State Tourism Awards.
University Associate and Chair, Tourism Research Cluster (Advisory Panel) at Curtin University; Deputy Chair, Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco Tourism; board member, Edith Cowan University Tourism and Hospitality Consultative Committee; Deput Chair Australia’s South West; and Chair National Tourism Awards judging panel.
Steve’s formal qualifications include a Doctor of Business Administration.
Brendan Dugan
Brendan currently serves as the Managing Director of Directions Hospitality Consulting with over 30 years of sales and operations experience in Australia and Asia. Brendan has dedicated the last 5 years to training Hospitality professionals in Australia and Internationally. Prior to transitioning to training, Brendan worked in various senior positions including General Manager and Food and Beverage Director.
Brendan possesses a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, and Advanced Diploma’s in Hospitality, Travel and Tourism and Events Management. Brendan is a member of the Australian Institute of Management and the Bali Hotel Association. Brendan serves as the State Chair of Judges for the Restaurant and Catering Association and has judged for the Clubs WA awards for excellence for the last five years. He is a Certified Hotel General Manager (CHGM) from the International Hospitality Institute and has been recently inducted as the Australian Board Member and invited to be on the panel of leading industry representatives in the upcoming Global Hospitality Summit.
Scott Fleming
Scott has enjoyed working in a variety of sectors within travel and tourism, both in government and private enterprise, in Australia and overseas. His work history includes management roles with Flight Centre Travel Group, Accor Hotels and Renaissance Cruise Lines.
Since 2006 Scott has been the Manager at Swan Valley Visitor Centre for the City of Swan. He is responsible for the strategic direction of visitor servicing in the Swan Valley and involved in all areas of tourism. With extensive experience in tourism, staff and financial management, he has the pleasure of leading one of Australia’s most successful and awarded tourism teams.
Scott has been on the board of the Visitor Centre Association of Western Australia, the executive committee of the Swan Valley Tourism Council and is an experienced tourism awards judge with the 7GWN Top Tourism Awards, the Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards and the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
Paul Grootveld
Paul has been involved in the tourism industry in Perth for more than 25 years. Highlights of his career includes the successful management buy-out of Adventure World in 1990, being a founding Board member of the Australian Amusement, Leisure & Recreation Association, a past Chairman of the Association of Perth Attractions and a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Tourism Committee. Paul also chaired the South West Tourism Marketing Committee.
After obtaining a Master of Business Degree from Murdoch University in 2000, he went on to manage Hotham Valley Tourist Railway before taking up the position as CEO of the Swan Bells Foundation in 2001. He retired in early 2013, but has continued to take a keen interest in the tourism industry.
Sally Hollis
Sally is an accomplished tourism and hospitality professional who has held senior roles at State and National level in peak tourism industry organisations over the past 35 years. Sally works with corporate partners, funders and the West Australian community to raise funds and deliver projects that conserve and enhance the unique environmental, cultural and heritage assets of Wadjemup (Rottnest Island).
As a founding Director and National Manager, Sally was instrumental in the development of the Australian Tourism Accreditation Program and was the inaugural CEO at Tourism Council WA.
Sally holds a number of board positions and has shared her knowledge and passion by mentoring tourism businesses under the Federal Governments Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure Program - Tourism Boost, facilitating and delivering Customer Service and Tourism Fundamentals training and lecturing and supervising future tourism professionals in Singapore and Perth for Murdoch University.
Peta McAuliffe
Peta has over 35 years in the tourism industry. Peta has operated a tourism consultancy business since 2008. She has also undertaken a range of tourism, economic development and industry development positions and contracts including City of Vincent, City of Subiaco and Museums Australia WA. She spent over 10 years as the Tourism Development Manager for Perth’s Eastern Region working across 6 Local Government Councils. She was also the Executive Officer for the Swan Valley Tourism Council where she managed the region’s major events such as Spring in the Valley and Taste of the Valley and also the setup of the Council’s first Visitor Centre and Administrative Office.
Peta spent 8 years in hospitality management throughout Western Australia for the Swan Hotel Group opening the first stage of Observation City Resort Hotel and 3 years resort management experience in various locations in Europe. Tourism training experience includes over 3 years training and university lecturing for the Northern Territory Tourism Training Council and Northern Territory University as well as Corporate Sales Manager for Hyatt Regency Perth.
Peta has a special interest in Nature Based Tourism and was on TWA’s Advisory Group for over 5 years and a board member for the Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco–Tourism for the past 15 years. Peta has extensive experience in the development and delivery of marketing, economic and business development strategies for nature based trails and the communities in their location and is a member of WA’s Trails Reference Group.
Joan Mulcahy
Over many decades, Joan has had extensive Managerial experience with Australian and International Airlines, Travel Agencies and in the Vocational Education and Training sector.
Joan has been a committee member of Tourism WA’s International Marketing Committee and China Ready Working Group and previously judged Top Tourism Town Awards and the WA Tourism Awards.
She has represented Western Australia at national level developing and implementing vocational training programs for the Travel, Tourism & Events industry sectors across Australia and represented WA on the executive committee and held the position of President of Australian TAFE Tourism and Educators Association.
Barry O'Sullivan
For well over 30 years Barry had a long and fulfilling career with Tourism WA where he was lucky enough travel extensively across the length and breadth of WA.
His time also saw him involved in developing new tourism product while working as the Goldfields Regional Manager and worked with both domestic and international marketing teams to maximise the exposure for WA and the many amazing tourism assets the state has.
Barry remains passionate about WA and what we have to offer the world from a business, sporting and particularly, a tourism perspective.
Rod Quartermain
Rod Quartermain has been in the tourism industry as an operator and administrator for nearly 40 years.
He was the Manager of the Tourism and Property Branch for the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife until his retirement in 2017. Since then he has been a part time consultant on a number of ecotourism projects and is Deputy Chair of Australia’s Golden Outback.
His background is as an owner operator of small to medium size businesses in a number of business sectors in many states in Australia and also worked in the import/export sector in London.
He got into tourism in the early 1980’s and has been a cruise boat operator on the Murray River and in Queensland, operated and managed a heritage park in Victoria, a WA Tourism Commission Regional manager in the Gascoyne, CEO of Fairbridge WA and President of the Peel Tourism Association.
Rod joined the then Department of Conservation and Land Management in 1998 and became responsible for tourism industry policy, liaison, licensing, evaluation of commercial tourism proposals, research and marketing and leases. This includes coordinating the successful Naturebank program that identifies opportunities for commercial accommodation development in WA’s parks.
For five years he was chairman of the Tourism and Protected Areas Forum that has representatives from all Commonwealth and State protected area managers and tourism agencies. This group discussed common issues and to look at a consistent approach to the management of tourism in protected areas can be achieved.
Jim Sharp
Jim Sharp is the former Director General of the Department of Parks and Wildlife, having retired in 2017 after 35 years involved in managing most of Western Australia’s magnificent marine and terrestrial areas. This also included 12 years as Director of National Parks.
Jim’s career has been characterised by a passionate commitment to creating opportunities for people to engage in high quality experiences in natural areas to both ensure a sustainable tourist industry as well as a constituency for their conservation.
He has overseen many major infrastructure developments and initiatives in managing and facilitating tourism in the natural areas of our state. During his involvement and leadership, visitation to our national and marine parks grew dramatically to reach over 17,000,000 visits per year.
Jim is the first honorary life member of the Bibbulmun Track Foundation, having been a board member since its inception as well as a former board member of the Mundibiddi Trail Foundation and a foundation member of the WA Parks Foundation. He was, for more than three decades, also a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas Working Group on Tourism.
Tracy Shea
Tracy Shea has held a range of policy, advisory and leadership roles across State government in environment, conservation, recreation and nature-based tourism during a career spanning 38 years, with the last 10 spent as assistant director in parks and visitor services at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
After retiring from the department in early 2018, Tracy has focused on running her own business Tracy Shea Communications plus her successful short-term accommodation property in Bridgetown. With almost 20 years’ experience in providing short-term accommodation in both Fremantle and Bridgetown, and welcoming travellers from around the world, Tracy is passionate about customer service and maintaining consistently high standards.
In recent years Tracy has also worked in the not-for-profit sector where she developed and activated the Spring into Parks program for the WA Parks Foundation. Tracy is a Park Ambassador for the Foundation and continues to volunteer with programs that showcase the health benefits of spending time in nature. She also volunteers as Secretary of Geoparks WA. A longstanding board member of FACET (Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco-Tourism Inc.), Tracy took over as Executive Officer in July 2020. Tracy was appointed as a Director on the Swan River Trust board in May 2023.
Chad van Heemst
As managing director of Vanguard Press and Premium Publishers, Chad van Heemst (CA, B.Com) has worked extensively to market destinations throughout WA and promote tourism operators through the power of print.
The team at Vanguard have created a holistic approach to print; their mission is to go beyond executing a beautiful print result. They also generate engaging content, use inspiring images and reach your target audience through unique distribution channels. Vanguard is proud to have been a finalist in the Mumbrella Travel Publication of the Year Awards in 2019, and continues to produce a range of publications for iconic destinations in WA, including Margaret River/Busselton, Broome, Carnarvon, Kalbarri, Bunbury and Dwellingup.
Chad has been a member of the Tourism Council of WA Judging Panel for the Top Tourism Town Awards since 2017 and previously worked at Deloitte’s as a manager in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, gaining extensive experience across a broad range of industries.
Euan Martin
Euan Martin manages a tourism product development role as part of a new Tourism Experience Development team in Tourism Western Australia. In this role he assists private operators in developing tourism experiences in and around national parks in WA, with Euan overseeing the Perth, Peel and Nambung areas. Euan has experience in developing ecotourism initiatives, tourism infrastructure and assisting in the developing tourism product from years spent in local government, and sits on the executive board of FACET; the Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco-tourism
Pan Pan
Pan joined Perth Airport as Vice President Aviation Business Development in Feb 2020. Prior to joining Perth Airport, Pan held positions such as Sales Executive at Qatar Airways between November 2016 and December 2019, Sales and Marketing Manager at China Southern Airlines between 2011 and 2016. In these capacities, he was responsible for implementing growth strategies for the respective airlines.
Having obtained a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. In 2010 he successfully completed his studies and earned a Master's degree in Professional Accounting at Curtin University, and in 2014 he has become a member of CPA Australia.
Jackie Crooks
Jackie is the Director Tourism Experience Development with Tourism Western Australia. Jackie has been involved with the tourism and sports industries for over 25 years having held roles with the International Cricket Council, West Coast Fever and a combined 12 years at Tourism WA across the events, marketing and destination development teams. Jackie is a passionate advocate for the WA tourism industry, and is currently managing the team responsible for growing the density and diversity of tourism experiences in and around WA’s spectacular national parks, overseeing cruise tourism and implementing the tourism workforce development strategies. Jackie was also responsible for the development the Jina : Western Australian Aboriginal Tourism Action Plan.
Julie Wheelhouse
Julie Wheelhouse is the General Manager of BKB Holidays, Australia’s specialist travel company with a passion for delivering unique and memorable holidays to its Travel Agents and Customers.
Prior to this role, Julie mentored and collaborated with Retail Travel Franchisees across Australia for Helloworld for over 14 yrs. Julie has vast experience working across the Travel & Tourism sector for 35 years within Australia, Europe and the UK, her work spans across the Cruise sector, Foreign Exchange and Retail travel
William Barry
William Barry is an experienced tourism and economic development professional. Graduating from the Shannon International Hotel School, Ireland he has had a diverse career managing and owning operations in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland and Australia.
William currently works with the Economic Development team at the City of Cockburn; where in collaboration with a terrific range of operators like the new Perth Wave Park, the exceptional Cockburn Ice Arena, the WA Wildlife Centre, Adventure World, operators at Port Coogee Marina and many many more, he is establishing a very cool and exciting new Visitor and Tourism destination.
William is passionate about marketing and destination development. Getting businesses to work together and promote their region and watching the benefits flow out is a skill he learnt operating his own business in country NSW to great effect and success!
He has held voluntary board roles on several organisations and is currently a board member with Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco Tourism (FACET); and Joint Chairman of Economic Development Australia (WA). He holds an MBA from the University of Western Australia; Diploma in Hotel Management, Shannon Hotel School; and is an Accredited Certified Practitioner of Economic Development: ACEcD.
Ryan Mossny
Ryan Mossny is the co-founder of Two Feet & a Heartbeat walking tours and Matagarup Zip+Climb. His specialties include tourism product development, product planning, heritage/historical/cultural interpretation, tour guide training, financial sourcing/management, place making and grant application management. He provides these services to tourism organisations, governments and individuals.
Ryan grew up and was formally educated in Canada and attended the University of Saskatchewan studying Chemistry and Commerce. After completing school, Ryan worked for a number of multinational organisations in both science and business related fields.
In 2001 he embarked on an around the world journey that would cement his passion for travel, tourism, heritage and culture. It was at this point he arrived in London and took up a position in the strategy department at Transport for London (TFL).
In 2007, he co-founded Two Feet & a Heartbeat, an organisation dedicated to interpreting history, heritage and culture. More recently Ryan is part of the ownership group of Perth’s newest adventure activity Matagarup Zip+Climb.
Sally Pullin
Sally has a diverse background in tourism and hospitality over a 30 year career. After completing her Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) degree, Sally's early career was spent working up the chain of the International Hotel sector through customer service, accommodation and conference sales management before moving to renown Melbourne caterer Peter Rowland Catering as a Group Venue Sales Manager. In 2007 Sally and her husband relocated to Albany to join her family's premium hosted accommodation business, The Beach House at Bayside, which was inducted into the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards Hall of Fame in 2018.
Sally has contributed periods as Board Director for both Australia's South West Regional Tourism Organisation and the Tourism council of WA and has a passion for ensuring invested micro business operators have access to industry resources and an industry voice.
Michael Collins
Michael Collins is the Principal of 'CF Global,' a Perth based tourism industry consultancy, specializing in Regional Tourism and Representative/Destination Marketing.
An illustrious career journey, Michael held influential positions at Austotel, a prominent national hotel group, and the Swan Brewery. Subsequently, he and his wife Jonine leased and managed the historic Castle Hotel in York WA for nearly a decade. Continuing with a pivotal role as the regional manager for WA/SA/NT with the International Hotel Chain Best Western. More recently, Michael contributed his insights to the Caravan Industry Association WA as Manager of Membership and Business Improvement.
Before founding CF Global in 2013, Michael's leadership prowess was evident as the Group General Manager for Western Australia's Hospitality Group. His oversight included the pre-launch of the boutique 5-star 'Terrace Hotel' and the operational achievement of the highly awarded Karijini Eco Retreat.
Matt Norton
In 2009, Matt was appointed to the Visitor Centre Manager Role at the Geographe Bay Tourism Association Visitor Centre which evolved into the Tourism Services Manager, responsible for the MRBTA’s four visitor centres after the amalgamation of the AMRTA and GBTA. New challenges in 2018 included running the MRBTA’s newest attraction, Forest Adventures South West, and the marketing and promotion of the Margaret River Region Caves and Lighthouses. This role oversees a revenue base of $5.5 million in tourism sales. Recently, Matt has been supporting the ground handling team servicing FIFO flights at the Busselton Margaret River Airport.
