2025 Speakers
Session 2: Resourcing tourism on conservation lands: Options, challenges, and opportunities for Aotearoa New Zealand
Penny Nelson, Director General, Department of Conservation
Penny Nelson is the Director-General of the Department of Conservation, which is responsible for managing a third of New Zealand’s land area and protecting native species and ecosystems on both land and water.
Before starting at DOC in 2021, Penny was Deputy Director-General for Biosecurity NZ.
Penny joined the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in 2018 as Deputy Director-General Policy and Trade, where she led work shaping the future of the primary sector – enhancing the sector’s sustainability and growth.
Penny has worked across a range of areas of government, including the environment, economic development, and social development. Prior to joining MPI, Penny was Deputy Secretary at Ministry for the Environment where she was responsible for climate change, the marine environment, environmental reporting, and the science system.
She has also worked within the private and science sectors including roles at DairyNZ, the Sustainable Business Council, and Landcare Research.
Penny holds a Master of Science in Resource Management (Honours) from Lincoln University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Otago. She is a recipient of Lincoln University’s Bledisloe Medal for advancing New Zealand’s interests through her contribution to conservation.
Dave Beeche, Chief Executive, RealNZ
Dave is an accomplished CEO with over 15 years experience leading event, sports and related entities, most recently leading the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023.
Prior to his leadership roles, Dave’s career has spanned practicing solicitor, accounting, and marketing roles.
Dave is passionate about delivering outstanding customer experiences in nature, and inspiring & leading teams towards the achievement of great outcomes across social, environmental and economic measures.
Mick Abbott, Director and Founder, WildLab
Mick trained first as an architect, before working as lead equipment designer for Fairydown and Hallmark Brands. He was director and part-owner of Gondwana Creative Kits that designed, produced and distributed their range of environmental products, throughout NZ, Australia and beyond. Mid-career, he returned to University to study, research and teach landscape architecture.
A former head of Lincoln University’s School of Landscape Architecture, he recently shifted all his focus to WildLab.org.nz, a design and research group focused on designing regenerative landscapes, strategies, experiences and communication tools.
Mick is Emeritus Professor at Lincoln University, and currently a member of the NZ Conservation Authority, the NZ Geographic Board, and Federated Mountain Clubs Executive. Mick has had a lifelong connection with the outdoors including completing a 130 day solo traverse of the South Island that criss-crossed the main divide.
For the past 30 years he and Carli Richter have been restoring a 45 hectare farm above Otago Harbour back into native forest.
Dinner Speaker
Shayne Forrest, General Manager Tourism, Hobbiton™ Movie Set
Shayne’s career started as a theatre company manager and actor in the South Island before moving to the Waikato and landing a role at Hobbiton in 2012. Since then, he has worked his way through different areas of the business; as the original food and beverage manager helping to set up The Green Dragon Inn, before moving over to manage the marketing and commercial side.
One of Shayne’s highlights at Hobbiton Movie Set has been developing new products and overseeing the brand development.
Today Shayne is the General Manager and Deputy Chief Executive of the iconic movie set. Hobbiton is one of New Zealand’s most popular attractions and has seen expediential growth in visitor numbers over the years. The Hobbiton team continue to offer a world-class experience, exceed visitor expectations and reinvest in & develop their little piece of Middle-earth.
Shayne was born and raised in Alexandra and has been on the Central Otago Destination Advisory Board since 2021. He is a previous winner of the Young Tourism Export Council Excellence Award and the New Zealand Tourism Award for Emerging Tourism Leader.
Session 3: Effectively resourcing our tourism system: Learning from Scotland and Ireland
Paul Kelly, Chief Executive, Fáilte Ireland
Paul Kelly has been the Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland since 2017. Paul has led Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, through the deepest crisis ever for our country’s tourism industry.
His work now is focused on driving the sustained and sustainable recovery of the industry to ensure tourism contributes even more to the economic, social, cultural and environmental future of Ireland. This future will build on Fáilte Ireland's previous successes including the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, the Dublin brand refresh and The Gathering.
Paul’s leadership has led Fáilte Ireland to be listed in the top 20 best large organisations to work in for three consecutive years and listed in the top 5 most trusted organisations in the country.
In 2020 Paul was named as Ireland's Most Trusted Leader by Great Places to Work. Paul was also awarded the 2024 Global Tourism Ambassador Award from Destinations International which celebrates those who transformed their destinations and have made a profound impact the broader travel and tourism industry.
Before his appointment as CEO of Fáilte Ireland, Paul held several management and marketing leadership roles. Raised in a small retail family business, he began his career
Rob Dickson, Director of Industry & Events, VisitScotland
Rob Dickson is VisitScotland’s Director of Industry & Events. He is responsible for destination development and industry engagement across the events and tourism sectors as well as EventScotland’s work delivering national, regional and local events.
He joined VisitScotland in August 2021 as the Director of Industry and Destination Development.
Rob has over thirty years’ experience in senior public sector and corporate leadership roles and has experience at a National and local level of a wide range of services and projects that involve economic development, tourism and environmental issues.
Prior to joining VisitScotland Rob was at Scottish Borders Council for ten years latterly as Executive Director for Corporate Improvement & Economy. He led the Council’s work on re-opening the Borders Railway and on agreeing two growth deals including the cross-border Borderlands Growth Deal.
From 2018 to 2020 Rob was seconded to the Scottish Government and led the group of officials who worked on the South of Scotland Economic Partnership in advance of the Government launching South of Scotland Enterprise in April 2020.
Session 4: Managing tourism on national park/conservation lands: US perspectives and approaches
Professor Steve Hollenhorst, Former Director of US National Park Service Social Science Research Program
Steve is WWU's Chief Strategy Officer for the WWU Peninsulas Campus. He was the dean at Huxley College of the Environment from 2012 to 2021, and Associate Vice President for Facilities from 2023-2024. Prior to that, he was a faculty member at the University of Idaho, where he served as associate dean of the College of Natural Resources, Chair of the Department of Natural Resources and Society, founding director of the university’s award-winning Building Sustainable Communities Initiative, and founding director of the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS).
He was also director of the U of I's Park Studies Unit, a branch of the National Park Service Social Science Program. Formerly he was co-editor of the international academic journal Society and Natural Resources. Prior to the University of Idaho, he was a professor and program coordinator in the Division of Forestry at Western Virginia University. He is the founder and first executive director of the West Virginia Land Trust.
His scholarship and outreach work is in the areas of land use policy and management; land trusts and conservation easements; climate action; natural climate solutions; and environmental leadership.
Dr Margaret Walls, Director, Climate Risks and Resilience Program, Resources for the Future
Dr Walls’s research focuses on issues related to resilience and adaptation to extreme weather events, conservation and public lands, and nature-based climate solutions.
She has written extensively on parks and conservation funding, including options for the U.S. national park system and state parks and payments for ecosystem services programs. Dr Walls has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on a wide range of natural resource and environmental issues and is the author of 40 book chapters and published reports. She co-hosts of the Resources for the Future podcast Resources Radio.
She is a Features Co-Editor of the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, a member of the Advisory Board for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, a member of the state of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan technical advisory committee, and a former board member of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
She holds a PhD in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a BS in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.
Paul Kelly, Chief Executive, Fáilte Ireland
Paul Kelly has been the Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland since 2017. Paul has led Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, through the deepest crisis ever for our country’s tourism industry.
His work now is focused on driving the sustained and sustainable recovery of the industry to ensure tourism contributes even more to the economic, social, cultural and environmental future of Ireland. This future will build on Fáilte Ireland's previous successes including the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, the Dublin brand refresh and The Gathering.
Paul’s leadership has led Fáilte Ireland to be listed in the top 20 best large organisations to work in for three consecutive years and listed in the top 5 most trusted organisations in the country.
In 2020 Paul was named as Ireland's Most Trusted Leader by Great Places to Work. Paul was also awarded the 2024 Global Tourism Ambassador Award from Destinations International which celebrates those who transformed their destinations and have made a profound impact the broader travel and tourism industry.
Before his appointment as CEO of Fáilte Ireland, Paul held several management and marketing leadership roles. Raised in a small retail family business, he began his career
Rob Dickson, Director of Industry & Events, VisitScotland
Rob Dickson is VisitScotland’s Director of Industry & Events. He is responsible for destination development and industry engagement across the events and tourism sectors as well as EventScotland’s work delivering national, regional and local events.
He joined VisitScotland in August 2021 as the Director of Industry and Destination Development.
Rob has over thirty years’ experience in senior public sector and corporate leadership roles and has experience at a National and local level of a wide range of services and projects that involve economic development, tourism and environmental issues.
Prior to joining VisitScotland Rob was at Scottish Borders Council for ten years latterly as Executive Director for Corporate Improvement & Economy. He led the Council’s work on re-opening the Borders Railway and on agreeing two growth deals including the cross-border Borderlands Growth Deal.
From 2018 to 2020 Rob was seconded to the Scottish Government and led the group of officials who worked on the South of Scotland Economic Partnership in advance of the Government launching South of Scotland Enterprise in April 2020.
Session 4: Managing tourism on national park/conservation lands: US perspectives and approaches
Professor Steve Hollenhorst, Former Director of US National Park Service Social Science Research Program
Steve is WWU's Chief Strategy Officer for the WWU Peninsulas Campus. He was the dean at Huxley College of the Environment from 2012 to 2021, and Associate Vice President for Facilities from 2023-2024. Prior to that, he was a faculty member at the University of Idaho, where he served as associate dean of the College of Natural Resources, Chair of the Department of Natural Resources and Society, founding director of the university’s award-winning Building Sustainable Communities Initiative, and founding director of the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS).
He was also director of the U of I's Park Studies Unit, a branch of the National Park Service Social Science Program. Formerly he was co-editor of the international academic journal Society and Natural Resources. Prior to the University of Idaho, he was a professor and program coordinator in the Division of Forestry at Western Virginia University. He is the founder and first executive director of the West Virginia Land Trust.
His scholarship and outreach work is in the areas of land use policy and management; land trusts and conservation easements; climate action; natural climate solutions; and environmental leadership.
Dr Margaret Walls, Director, Climate Risks and Resilience Program, Resources for the Future
Dr Walls’s research focuses on issues related to resilience and adaptation to extreme weather events, conservation and public lands, and nature-based climate solutions.
She has written extensively on parks and conservation funding, including options for the U.S. national park system and state parks and payments for ecosystem services programs. Dr Walls has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on a wide range of natural resource and environmental issues and is the author of 40 book chapters and published reports. She co-hosts of the Resources for the Future podcast Resources Radio.
She is a Features Co-Editor of the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, a member of the Advisory Board for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, a member of the state of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan technical advisory committee, and a former board member of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
She holds a PhD in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a BS in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.
Session 4: Managing tourism on national park/conservation lands: US perspectives and approaches
Professor Steve Hollenhorst, Former Director of US National Park Service Social Science Research Program
Steve is WWU's Chief Strategy Officer for the WWU Peninsulas Campus. He was the dean at Huxley College of the Environment from 2012 to 2021, and Associate Vice President for Facilities from 2023-2024. Prior to that, he was a faculty member at the University of Idaho, where he served as associate dean of the College of Natural Resources, Chair of the Department of Natural Resources and Society, founding director of the university’s award-winning Building Sustainable Communities Initiative, and founding director of the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS).
He was also director of the U of I's Park Studies Unit, a branch of the National Park Service Social Science Program. Formerly he was co-editor of the international academic journal Society and Natural Resources. Prior to the University of Idaho, he was a professor and program coordinator in the Division of Forestry at Western Virginia University. He is the founder and first executive director of the West Virginia Land Trust.
His scholarship and outreach work is in the areas of land use policy and management; land trusts and conservation easements; climate action; natural climate solutions; and environmental leadership.
Dr Margaret Walls, Director, Climate Risks and Resilience Program, Resources for the Future
Dr Walls’s research focuses on issues related to resilience and adaptation to extreme weather events, conservation and public lands, and nature-based climate solutions.
She has written extensively on parks and conservation funding, including options for the U.S. national park system and state parks and payments for ecosystem services programs. Dr Walls has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on a wide range of natural resource and environmental issues and is the author of 40 book chapters and published reports. She co-hosts of the Resources for the Future podcast Resources Radio.
She is a Features Co-Editor of the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, a member of the Advisory Board for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, a member of the state of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan technical advisory committee, and a former board member of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
She holds a PhD in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a BS in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.