We asked Phillipa Harrison, managing director, Tourism Australia, a series of questions about her experience as a leader, the tourism industry, and navigating COVID-19 and the post-pandemic travel landscape. She provided thoughtful and inspirational responses. 

Women Leading Travel & Hospitality: Tell us about your background. How did you get into the tourism industry?
Phillipa Harrison: I had a real desire to travel from a young age, and in part it comes from having a bit of an international upbringing. My father started working for the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade when I was eight years old and our family spent time living in Delhi and Paris when he was posted overseas. The experience really ignited my love of travel, and it has continued to be a driving force in my life.

After I graduated from university, I took time out to explore the world and spent the better part of the next decade working as a tour guide in India, Turkey and Britain, which was a phenomenal experience. I think my parents breathed a sigh of relief when I finally made my way into the corporate world as a global product manager for STA Travel in London in the early 2000s.

I held several sales and marketing roles for tourism businesses in London before I moved back to Australia, where I spent six years working for Hamilton Island Enterprises. Then, in early 2017, I joined the Tourism Australia family.

Phillipa Harrison, Managing Director, Tourism Australia

WLT&H: Did you imagine you would be the first woman to take on a senior leadership role at Tourism Australia?
PH: Much of my career to date has been built around tourism, which is such an important industry to the livelihoods of so many people and communities. Now I feel incredibly fortunate that my current role at Tourism Australia enables me to work with people across the Australian tourism industry to promote Australia’s exceptional tourism experiences to the world. I’m passionate about this industry and there’s truly no substitute to loving what you do. I think that makes such a difference to your career when you find something that you’re passionate about and you love doing each day.

WLT&H: What do you love most about your job?
PH: It’s such a privilege to live in a beautiful country like Australia, and to have the opportunity to promote what we have to prospective travelers. Our natural environment and wildlife are without comparison. We have well-known icons like the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, the Great Ocean Road, and even our largest city, Sydney, is abundant in natural beauty. I have many moments in my job when I’m reminded of how lucky we are to live in this awe-inspiring country, and what’s more, one that’s also home to some friendly people, too.

WLT&H: What was the most challenging aspect of your job prior to the pandemic?
PH: Prior to the pandemic, our focus as an organization was to drive demand for travel to Australia from international visitors in our key markets like the U.S. In doing so, one of our biggest obstacles for driving demand for international travel to Australia is the distance and time required to travel here, and the perceived costs associated with this, despite it being such a highly desirable destination.

This meant we had to make our marketing work really hard to convert the strong desire for Australia into actual bookings. That’s why we went with some really big campaigns in recent years like our Dundee campaign back in 2018, which really sought to urge Americans to stop dreaming of visiting Australia and to come and say ‘g’day’ in person.

WLT&H: When the pandemic hit and through the following year, what actions did you take to keep Tourism Australia going at a time with very few tourists?
PH: Like many industries around the world, particularly tourism, we immediately went into crisis mode. I was fortunate to have a fantastic leadership team supporting me and the business as we dealt with the immediate crisis and responded to our changing business environment. We realized quite quickly that once it was safe to do so, our role would be to encourage Australians to make the most of the opportunity to travel within their own country.

It’s certainly an ongoing challenge, being without the $45 billion annually that international visitors contribute to our economy. However, we’re fortunate to have such a vast country with so many incredible experiences to offer, and our team has been working hard to promote domestic destinations through our ‘Holiday Here This Year’ domestic marketing campaigns. We’ve also been working to deliver a domestic business events strategy while international travel is on hold, which includes the ‘Event Here This Year’ campaign.

WLT&H: How much did you focus on promoting local travel compared to international outreach efforts?
PH: While domestic tourism alone can’t fill the vacuum of lost international tourism, more Australians travelling domestically is delivering billions of dollars of much needed revenue to our industry. We continue to focus on driving demand towards a domestic-led recovery, backed by a strong focus on industry support.

In time, international visitors will form a critical part of the recovery. Therefore, the continued engagement with key international markets like the U.S. remains important. Once international borders begin to re-open, our intention is to ramp up our marketing as quickly as possible, with a focus on converting interest in Australia into bookings. We’re certainly looking forward to the time when we can once again welcome our friends from the U.S. to Australia. In the meantime, we encourage travelers to keep planning for the future and the experiences they might have when they visit us.

WLT&H: How have you kept your staff motivated through the pandemic?
PH: Tourism is very much an industry built on relationships and people-to-people connections, so the pandemic has had a real impact. At Tourism Australia, we’re a people-led organization, and so the transition to remote working was a big adjustment. I’m proud of the way our team members rallied during this time, focusing on engagement through video calls, regular check-ins, and moving many of our face-to-face events and meetings online. The fact that we’re so passionate about our industry and supporting our staff through the crisis has also kept us very motivated as well.

WLT&H: Are you expecting a tourism boom in the near future? How are you preparing for that?
PH: In terms of international tourism, it’s difficult to predict when our borders will reopen to key tourism markets around the world like the U.S. However, it’s great to see from our consumer research that Australia remains the most desirable and considered destination for international travelers across our key markets, and that includes travelers in the U.S.

While nobody knows exactly what travel will look like in the future, it’s likely that travelers will prioritize less crowded attractions and destinations, as well as nature-based experiences, as they venture back out into the world. Australia has so much to offer in this regard and we continue to prepare for various scenarios for re-opening international travel so that we can be ready to welcome visitors from the U.S. and other parts of the world for an Australian holiday when it’s safe to do so.

For domestic travel, it’s great to see demand and confidence continually increasing. Our domestic aviation capacity has been on a solid upward trajectory, as have domestic flight searches and advance bookings. We continue to urge Aussies to support our tourism business and communities through our ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaigns, as well as through our partnership with industry across Australia.

WLT&H: What advice do you have for other women executives in the travel and tourism industry?
PH: I believe in authenticity, positivity and collaboration. I’ve always found that these qualities resonate with my teams and are generally indicators of success. The ability to genuinely connect with people through empathy is key, and I think an underrated currency. 

WLT&H: What’s something you wish you’d known 10 years or 20 years ago, something you want aspiring female leaders to know?
PH: Often you learn the hard things the hard way, and I think it’s important to remember that you sometimes need to push yourself outside your comfort zone for the best results. Particularly as females, we may not put ourselves out there until we’re absolutely sure of our ability — even though we have a lot of value to add. Instead, I think you’ve got to just go for it and back yourself.

WLT&H: Finally, where is your favorite place to visit in Australia?
PH: I have a few favorite places in Australia, including the islands in the Great Barrier Reef and the spiritual heart of Australia, Uluru. I’ve also been fortunate enough to experience some other parts of the country in the past year for the first time, like Lord Howe Island and Australia’s North West, which is home to the Kimberley region. Both of these areas offer unique and compelling tourism experiences for visitors.