A decade after starting at the Rotorua District Council’s destination marketing department at age 25, Oscar Nathan has returned to Destination Rotorua Marketing as General Manager

Effective from early January 2012, Mr Nathan’s appointment will mark a shift in focus of Destination Rotorua Marketing from “business planning and change, with some well publicised recent challenges, to one of business plan implementation and getting things done,” says Rotorua District Council Economic & Regulatory Services Group Manager Mark Rawson.

Mr Nathan has spent the intervening years working in the private sector with numerous roles including a business advisor position with Poutama Trust. He is currently deputy chair of NZ Tourism Industry Association, board member of Te Puia and NZ Hospitality Standards Institute, council member of Waiariki Institute of Technology, chair of Maori in Tourism Rotorua, and is involved with The University of Waikato.

“I’m now 39 and have been extremely fortunate to get out into the private sector, learn from and work with a great array of people and organisations from New Zealand and abroad,” says Mr Nathan. “That allows me to bring a range of new skills, experience and perspectives that I am extremely excited about applying in this newly revised role.”

Mr Nathan will retain some of his current positions where they will compliment his role as General Manager of Destination Rotorua Marketing, though he will step down from others – such as his chairmanship of Maori in Tourism Rotorua and directorship of Te Puia – as part of his commitment to the new role.

“As a team our responsibility is to not only entice visitors to stay longer, explore and spend more but we also need to connect with those that seek a longer term engagement investing and doing business here in Rotorua,” says Mr Nathan.