Brisbane Marketing Executive Chairman Ian Klug today announced the appointment of John Aitken as the new Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Klug said the board has been unanimous in its choice and cited Mr Aitken’s proven success, business acumen, excellent reputation, long history in tourism marketing and major event management and passion for the city of Brisbane as deciding factors.

“John is a Brisbane boy, he knows the city well and is already a passionate advocate,” Mr Klug said.

“We are lucky to have secured him as the new CEO of Brisbane Marketing. His experience in major events was very attractive to us but we were also impressed by his in-depth understanding of the tourism industry, having authored strategic plans for the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Tourism Sydney and Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.”

Brisbane Marketing’s merger with business and investment attraction agency Velocity in 2006 sparked a new initiative, Major Events Brisbane, with the goal of attracting nationally and internationally recognised events to the city and strengthening the offering of existing events to help them become world-class.

John Aitken’s 27 years of experience in this field delivering more than 1,000 events, in particular his involvement with the iconic Riverfestival and Sydney Royal Easter Show, showed him as the outstanding candidate.

Mr Aitken worked with Brisbane City Council to create the pilot project ‘Down by the River’ and became the Founding Producer and Creative Director of the inaugural Riverfestival, attracting major funding and building it into Queensland’s largest annual event and the world’s preeminent river celebration.

In his role as General Manager Events and Marketing for the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Mr Aitken grew corporate investment by 160 per cent and used the funds to reinvigorate the historic event. His success can be demonstrated by increased visitor numbers and numerous industry accolades including winning the 2007 Australian Tourism Award in the Major Festival and Events Category, eclipsing Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games and the Gold Coast Indy.

Ian Klug said the qualities needed to produce the results John Aitken had achieved in these roles, including attracting and retaining investment, building tourism strategies, engaging stakeholders and inspiring employees, would be vital for the CEO role at Brisbane Marketing.

“The team we now have in place is exceptionally creative, talented and dedicated to promoting Brisbane as the destination of choice for conventions, leisure, investment and major events. We were looking for the right leader who shared our vision and we believe we have found him,” Mr Klug said.

John Aitken said it was the best possible time to step into the role and return to his home town.

“Everybody knows there is a real buzz about Brisbane at the moment,” Mr Aitken said.

“Having lived and worked in Sydney for the past seven years I have noticed perceptions of Brisbane changing. Most people now recognise it as a modern and exciting city.

“Brisbane Marketing can claim a good share of the credit for this, whether working with the City Council and other stakeholders to secure exclusive exhibitions like Andy Warhol or international sporting events like the Rugby League World Cup, working with global business to bring new offices, infrastructure and jobs to the city and creating eye catching marketing campaigns to attract the lucrative tourism dollar.

“My past work in the city during the years 1980 to 2001 was centred on celebrating, defining and shaping the spirit and culture of Brisbane. I’m very excited about joining a dynamic organisation which shares this passion and looking forward to living in Brisbane again.” Mr Aitken said.

Brisbane enjoyed the largest share of visitor nights to Queensland in 2006/07, welcoming more than 5.6 million national and international visitors. Domestic tourists alone ploughed $2.7 billion into the city’s economy, boosted by record growth in business tourism.