The TravMedia Summit

Matt is an award-winning technology entrepreneur, CEO and founder of Freelancer Limited. Twelve-time Webby award-winning freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and projects posted. More than 68 million registered users have posted over 22 million projects and contests to date in over 2,700 areas as diverse as website development, logo design, marketing, copywriting, astrophysics, aerospace engineering and manufacturing. Freelancer provides cloud labour for clients ranging from consumers to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

As founder of freelancer.com, Matt bootstrapped a US$2.5m investment for an acquisition to listing in four years without any further funding rounds in an IPO that opened at a market capitalisation of US$1.1 billion, the third biggest opening ever on the ASX, generating a 15,700% return for investors.

Matt is also Chief Executive of escrow.com, a world leader in secure online payments with over US$6b in transactions secured, which is the only online payment method for eBay Motors USA. He is also Executive Chairman of Loadshift, Australia’s largest freight marketplace with over 700 million kilometres of freight posted to date.

Matt was an Adjunct Associate Professor in Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Sydney, where he taught Cryptography for 14 years and, later, Technology Venture Creation. He is the co-author of over 20 US patent applications.

Matt is a prolific speaker and has featured at SXSW, The Summit Series, ASEAN, Tony Robbins, The Next Web and in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Time Magazine, TechCrunch and the Economist. He writes essays on macroeconomics and policy and was one of the 100 original LinkedIn influencers globally. He runs Australia’s largest technology, startup & growth conference, StartCon, where he has interviewed thought leaders, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, John McAfee, Patrick Grove and Kimdotcom.

Previously, he founded and was Chief Executive of Sensory Networks Inc., a vendor of high-performance network security processors sold to Intel Corporation in 2013.

In 2006, he was awarded the State Pearcey Award for contribution to the IT&T industry. In 2010, he was named Alumnus of the Year for the Faculty of Engineering & IT, University of Sydney. In 2011, he was named the inaugural BRW Entrepreneur of the Year by Australia's most prestigious business publication and the E&Y Technology Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2013, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the Engineering Excellence Awards. In 2014, he was named the most influential person in information technology in Australia by Smart Company. In 2015, he was named in the Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia by Engineers Australia. In 2016, he was awarded Libertarian of the Year by the Australian Libertarian Society. He has won Silver Stevies in the International Business Awards in 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2017 for CEO of the Year. In 2018, he was named Alumnus of the Year in Entrepreneurship by Macquarie University. In 2019, he won a Gold Stevie for Executive of the Year (Business & Professional Services). In 2021, he received a Doctorate of Letters honoris causa from Macquarie University for contributions to business & technology.

Matt holds first-class honours in both Electrical Engineering and Science, a Masters in Applied Finance, and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia.

Nick founded TravMedia in 1999 after his experience as travel editor of Courier Newspapers, Australia, for ten years. His knowledge and contributions to the travel industry are extensive. Nick is an active member of the ASTW, a judge for the Gourmet Travel Annual Awards, a proud supporter of the SATW, and sponsors the ONE Travel Conference Travel Writer award for outstanding work in promoting US travel, the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards, and the ASTW Awards.

Nick created IMM twelve years ago, and The Summit seven years ago. The platform also powers the online event marketplaces for IPW, Destination Canada’s Corroboree and ATE.

René joined Tourism New Zealand in August 2015, bringing 20 years of global experience in consumer-led businesses, including local and international marketing roles for Fonterra, Heineken, and Asia Pacific Breweries in Singapore.

René was appointed Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand in April 2021. Prior to this, he was Tourism New Zealand's Director Commercial. In this role, René led a team across 15 offices in 14 countries responsible for identifying key markets and audiences for travel to New Zealand. René also led the development of Tourism New Zealand's aviation strategy to guide partnerships with international airlines. René is passionate about the tourism sector and active in tourism industry engagement, undertaking regular speaking engagements and panel discussions.

Maya has a proven track record of managing strong brands on the local, national and world stage, having worked in data-driven digital marketing and content marketing in Germany, France, USA and Canada. Maya holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

At Destination BC, Maya is responsible for our global marketing efforts in 14 domestic and international markets to inspire over 21 million trips to and within BC annually via the Super, Natural British Columbia® brand. A passionate British Columbian raising a young family, she loves skiing, sailing, swimming and exploring BC’s hidden wonders.

Richard Quest is CNN's foremost international business correspondent and anchor of Quest Means Business, the definitive word on how we earn and spend our money. Based in New York, he is one of the most instantly recognisable members of the CNN team.

Quest hosts CNN International's signature monthly feature program, Quest's World of Wonder, an immersive travel series that finds him exploring a new destination each month and meeting fascinating people who reveal the heart of that city.

Quest’s dynamic and distinctive style has made him a unique figure in business broadcasting. Quest Means Business destroys the myth that business is boring, bridging the gap between hard economics and entertaining television. Guests of the show have included world leaders such as David Cameron and Petr Necas of the Czech Republic; Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase and Robert Zoellick, the former President of the World Bank; European policymakers including IMF boss Christine Lagarde, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, and former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn; and some of the most influential names in corporate America including DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and Ford CEO Alan Mulally.

Quest also serves as CNN Business editor-at-large and often hosts the digital live financial show "Markets Now" live streamed from the floor of the NYSE at CNNBusiness.com. He regularly reports from G20 meetings and attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, each year. Quest has covered every major stock market and financial crisis since Black Monday in 1987 and has reported from key financial centres globally, including Wall Street, London, Sao Paolo, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

In addition, Quest is CNN's established airline and aviation correspondent, where he presents the monthly CNN Business Traveller show, the definitive authority on making the most of doing business on the road - moving from A to B on company time. As a business travel specialist, Quest has become a voice of authority on subjects like the launch of the Airbus A380. He has interviewed all the major airline executives, including current Delta CEO Ed Bastian, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and President of Emirates Sir Timothy Charles Clark. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) awarded Quest the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award for his reporting on the travel business.

Quest extensively covered the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 across CNN/US and CNNI. He travelled to Kuala Lumpur, where he landed a television exclusive interview with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. His book 'The Vanishing of Flight MH370: The True Story of the Hunt for the Missing Malaysian Plane' details his unique perspective on covering MH370 for CNN.

Quest's coverage of breaking news, which has spanned more than three decades, has seen him report on a range of stories, from the death of Yasser Arafat and the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 crash to the death of Michael Jackson. Quest is more than just business; few journalists have had guests as varied, from His Holiness, The Dalai Lama to actress Joan Collins to the founder of Playboy Magazine, Hugh Hefner.

In 2014, Quest fronted the CNN Freedom Project documentary Cocoa-nomics, which explored how the chocolate industry is trying to eradicate slavery from its supply chains. Joined by an executive vice president at Nestle, Quest visited cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast to see if any progress had been made in the fight against child labour.

Prior to joining CNN, he worked at the BBC, where he was the North America business correspondent based on Wall Street for 12 years. Quest is British, holds an LLB (Hons) degree in Law from Leeds University, and was called to the Bar.

As Tourism Australia’s Chief Marketing Officer, Susan is responsible for driving the organisation’s global marketing strategy, ensuring that Australia’s tourism marketing efforts continue to cut through in the competitive international marketplace. Having joined Tourism Australia in 2017, Susan lead the creative development for campaigns such as Dundee and Undiscover Australia. Susan was promoted to the role of Chief Marketing Officer in May 2019 to lead the Global Marketing team in creating and developing brand assets for innovative campaigns such as Matesong with Kylie Minogue and the domestic Holiday Here This Year campaign.

Before devoting her time to the travel and tourism industry, Susan helped change the face of many blue-chip brands during her 20-year long career as a marketer. Working in an agency environment, Susan gained a wealth of experience with high profile clients such as Qantas, News Corp and Westpac. She was also one of the handful of people lucky enough to have worked on the single most referenced campaign in the industry ‘Think different’ by Apple.

Susan’s extensive creative agency experience has seen her develop successful brands that enable businesses to not only excel but also help to shape their culture from the inside. Her switch to working in a client-side role has funded her passion to drive results from the inside and continue to build Australia’s tourism brand internationally.

Zac is an energetic and engaging tourism thought leader focused on the growth and promotion of the Rockhampton region through storytelling, product development, collaboration and showcasing authentic and innovative experiences to increase the region's visitor economy.

He grew up in Rockhampton and has had diverse careers in the tourism and business development sectors. He has worked for Australia's largest media and marketing companies in regional areas, metro cities and internationally in the USA. Zac has held positions with Queensland Government's Young Tourism Leaders, Queensland Tourism Industry Council Young Professionals Mentoring Program, and Tourism and Events Queensland's Southern Great Barrier Reef Destination Leaders Program.

Amanda launched The Thoughtful Travel Podcast in 2016 after a decade of freelance travel writing and blogging. The podcast was chosen as a feature live recording for the inaugural SXSW Sydney in 2023 and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Washington Post and Travel + Leisure. It is closing in on one million downloads and is supported by a thriving community of listeners in two Thoughtful Travellers social media groups; Amanda also runs the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club as part of the podcast.

After living abroad in Japan, Slovakia and Germany and teaching English to people of all ages, Amanda returned to her hometown of Perth and now spends time working on various podcasting projects, especially a suite of educational programs with FORM, empowering disengaged teenagers to find a voice through the podcast medium. She also teaches podcasting to undergraduates at Murdoch University.

Amanda also runs a social media consultancy, working with small and medium businesses to help them use digital technologies to promote their work effectively. She teaches social media to communications postgraduates at Murdoch University and runs social media workshops online for ADMA and in Perth and across rural Western Australia for the Tourism Council of Western Australia.

Hangry By Nature is one of the largest video-focused travel and food TikTok, Instagram and YouTube channels, with an audience of over 2 million engaged followers. The channel comprises cheeky-faced Tina, hangry Andy and their two rambunctious food-loving kiddos, Raffy and Flo. Tina and Andy are professional video creators who have paved the path for fun, compelling and highly entertaining short-form travel videos.

With over 20 million video views per month, Tina loves showing their audience quirky and eye-opening travel experiences, unique destinations, culture education and, of course, the best (and sometimes most bizarre) eats wherever they go. They've worked with leading travel brands, including Amazing Thailand, Tokyo Tourism, Skyscanner, Destination NSW, Visit Berlin, Universal Studios, Accor and IHG.

Nick founded TravMedia in 1999 after his experience as travel editor of Courier Newspapers, Australia, for ten years. His knowledge and contributions to the travel industry are extensive. Nick is an active member of the ASTW, a judge for the Gourmet Travel Annual Awards, a proud supporter of the SATW, and sponsors the ONE Travel Conference Travel Writer award for outstanding work in promoting US travel, the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards, and the ASTW Awards.

Nick created IMM twelve years ago, and The Summit seven years ago. The platform also powers the online event marketplaces for IPW, Destination Canada’s Corroboree and ATE.

Constantina is the travel editor of delicious. Magazine and delicious.com.au, Australia's number one premium food and lifestyle brand. She is responsible for commissioning content that would pique the interest of an epicurious traveller. Constantina edits the travel section of the magazine as well as the travel vertical of the website and works closely with both the digital and print teams.

Penny is editor of The Weekend Australian’s Travel + Luxury section. Her extensive career in newspapers has encompassed several years in Scotland and Hong Kong, stints that nurtured her love of travel. She joined The Australian in 2010 and was appointed travel editor in 2019.

Jessica is Lonely Planet’s Destination Editor for Oceania. She’s responsible for commissioning the brand’s guidebooks and digital content for the region, including Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. As an award-winning journalist, she also contributes to North American, British and New Zealand publications. Jess believes strongly in social justice in tourism and the role that travel writing can play in improving diversity and inclusion.

Stuff is the national online homepage (formerly known as Stuff.co.nz) for the New Zealand national news company, Stuff Limited. The Stuff Travel website is supplemented by dedicated e-newsletters, a weekly lift-out section in the Sunday Star-Times, and dedicated weekly travel features every Monday in The Dominion Post, The Press, Waikato Times, Taranaki Daily News, Manawatu Standard, Marlborough Express, Nelson Mail, The Timaru Herald and The Southland Times. In addition, there will be quarterly glossy inserts in all copies of the Sunday Star-Times, Waikato Times, The Dominion Post and The Press. Juliette's role as News Director (Travel) helps drive the news and features agenda across Stuff travel's print and digital platforms. Juliette is also a keen diver and ice skater.

Jill is the owner and Managing Director of Barking Owl Communications, a boutique Sydney-based PR agency assisting companies in the tourism industry with strategic and creative responses to their communications issues. With extensive experience in marketing and corporate communications and issues management, she has worked in local and global markets, including 11 years in the USA where she worked with leading global communications firm Edelman, managing their Tourism Practice from the company’s Chicago head office. After returning home, she was Managing Director of the Australian operation.

Jill established Barking Owl Communications to provide personalised, hands-on support for clients across the tourism industry. The agency works across a range of tourism clients, including Destinations, Cruise, Airlines, Industry Associations and Hotels. Among the agency’s highlights, she lists the recent launch of Indigenous storytelling experience, Wintjiri Wiru for Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia; supporting the re-start of the cruise industry here for the Australian Cruise Association, then launching two new-build cruise ships in the last six months with Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises; opening several exciting new build and re-designed hotels including the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour and the Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets; and creating a multi-faceted, six-part podcast for Travel Portland in the U.S overseeing the entire initiative end to end.

Jill has also led some of the most high-profile tourism crisis management programs, including the recovery program for Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism after their devastating earthquake and communications initiatives for Longitude 131 following the fire, which severely damaged the property.

Rob is a regular contributor to the travel sections of Australia and New Zealand's leading newspapers and magazines. He's won six writing awards, including ASTW Travel Writer of the Year, and is an active Adventure Travel Trade Association member. Rob regularly speaks at travel events and has helped hundreds of aspiring travel writers, PR professionals and tourism operators through his writing courses.