The Board of Tourism Australia has announced that managing director Phillipa (Pip) Harrison will leave in August 2025 to pursue a new opportunity overseas.
Appointed managing director in 2019 and reappointed in 2024, Harrison joined Tourism Australia in 2017 as executive general manager international, overseeing international operations, global distribution, and partnerships.
Penny Fowler, chair of the Tourism Australia Board, praised Harrison’s leadership, noting that under her tenure, Australia welcomed more than eight million visitors last year for the first time in five years.
Fowler said: “Under Pip’s leadership, Tourism Australia has demonstrated the importance of our tourism industry to our nation. Pip’s vision has been to grow a sustainable tourism sector, which was particularly challenging when faced with the devastating impacts of the Black Summer bushfires of 2019 and 2020 and a global pandemic.
“When the world reopened, Tourism Australia was ready to go with global campaigns and innovative support programmes such as the first-ever National Experience Content Initiative to help industry accelerate their preparedness to attract and welcome visitors.”
She added: “On behalf of everyone at Tourism Australia, we sincerely thank Pip for her enormous contribution to the organisation and industry and look forward to continuing to work with the strong leadership team supporting the organisation.”
Commenting on her time leading Tourism Australia, Harrison thanked the 300,000 operators in Australia and 200 staff across the world who work to support and grow tourism and create the experiences visitors love.
She commented: “It’s been the greatest privilege of my career to lead Tourism Australia on behalf of an industry I love and have dedicated my life to.”
The recruitment process to appoint a new managing director will commence shortly.
