Ms Janine Kirk, Chairman of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB), announced that Ms Sandra Chipchase has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the MCVB, and will join the Bureau in mid April.

“Sandra has had an outstanding career in tourism and business events marketing, major events, sponsorship and commercial business management and brings a wealth of regional, national and international experience to the role,” Ms Kirk said.

Ms Chipchase held several senior management positions with the Australian Tourist Commission (now Tourism Australia) including two years in the former Melbourne head office and postings in Frankfurt, Chicago and New York.

She returned to Australia to join the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau as General Manager, Marketing.

In 1999 she was headhunted to become the Executive Director of the Australia Pavilion project team at World EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany which achieved record results for Australia.

In 2001 she joined the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority as Executive Director, Marketing & Communications. Ms Chipchase introduced new branding and public events for The Rocks and Darling Harbour precincts, and initiated several successful new commercial tourism products and activities such as the Rugby World Cup Live Sites. She created sponsorship deals which produced and continue to deliver record revenue and visitation levels.

Ms Chipchase is currently Executive Director, Commercial Partnerships and Visitor Services at the Authority where her role encompasses property portfolios, commercial businesses plus leasing and management agreements for the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Her Division generates around $AUD 90 million in revenue each year.

A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Ms Chipchase currently serves on several industry related committees and boards.

Ms Chipchase was responsible for introducing the landmark Sydney Convention Delegate Study – the largest of its type in the world and wrote the first multi-million dollar Olympic Games sponsorship deal with VISA in Australia.