Mark Taylor (Chairman) – Mark is Chairman of private investment company, Prospect Group and is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia & New Zealand and Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.  Being naturally commercially inquisitive Mark has been involved in a number of industries over his investing years with particular interest in property, technology, education and carbon markets.  Mark is a founding Director and investor in QRC. Mark has previously been the chair of the Wakatipu High School Foundation and Queenstown Alpine Ski team, a Trustee of Wakatipu Health Trust and is currently Chairman of the Investment Advisory Board for Central Lakes Trust.

Hamish Edgar – Graduated from the University of Otago with a BCom (Finance major) and LLB. He then practised for four years as a commercial lawyer at Russell McVeagh in Wellington in the finance, commercial and tax teams. Following that, Hamish spent two years in the Investment Banking team at First NZ Capital before moving to London to work as a Hedge Fund financial analyst and portfolio manager over the period 2007 to 2015.

Hamish is currently CEO of an investment management office taking principal investment positions and managing a range of private equity and public listed investments across a range of sectors including technology, education, technology infrastructure, primary industry, financial services and retail. Hamish is also a director of  Mt Cook Alpine Salmon, House of Travel and Ferrymead Hardware Ltd, as well as a number of entities in the Sinclair Investment Group and is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors and a trustee of the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi.

Rick Palmer – After completing a law degree at Otago, Rick commenced his legal career in Christchurch. A long stint practising overseas included many years as a partner of a large UK law firm. After a decade away, Rick returned to NZ with his family in 1998 to head Palmer Macauley’s Kerikeri branch where he specialises in business law, farming, trust and property work. He also mans the Mangonui office on Tuesdays.

Active in the Northland community, Rick was Chair of the Kerikeri High School Board of Trustees for nine years and is currently a member of the Doubtless Bay Promotions committee and sits on the Boards of Waitangi Limited and Justitia.

Charlie Phillips – is the CEO of QRC, New Zealand’s premier Tourism, Hospitality, Business and Technology College – with campuses in Queenstown and the Bay of Islands. Prior to this he spent over 10 years in the Tourism Industry where he was General Manager of Europcar New Zealand. He was motivated to move to the education sector as he first-hand experience with the ‘depth’ issues facing the tourism workforce. Charlie is a past Chairperson for the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, Wakatipu High School, Study Queenstown, Tourism Educators Forum Aotearoa and a past Board member of Destination Queenstown. He is part of the Better Work Leadership Group for the Tourism Industry Transformational Panel and is an advocate for making the Tourism and Hospitality sector an industry of choice.

Jo Bye (Ngati Kahangunu, Ngati Pahauwera) – has been part of the EECA executive leadership team since joining there in July 2020 as GM of Marketing and Communications, where she heads up the ‘hearts and minds’ strategic focus area and leads social behaviour change around energy efficiency, energy emissions and climate change, and the conservation of energy for New Zealand.

Prior to that, Jo held executive leadership and strategic commercial marketing and sales roles in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, in industries including fast-fashion retail and health and beauty with some iconic and diverse brands and businesses. She has particular expertise in strategic brand development and social behaviour change, and is passionate about supporting New Zealand’s shift towards being a low-carbon, climate-resilient society. Jo graduated from the University of Otago with a Commerce Degree with Marketing Honours, capped by Sir Eion Edgar in 2002.

Pania Tyson- Nathan (Adviser) – since becoming CEO of NZ Māori Tourism Pania has focused on highlighting the unique opportunity that a Māori experience offers manuhiri (visitors) domestically and internationally.  Having grown up in business with her parents in the Hawke’s Bay and then owning businesses, Pania understands intimately both the pains and passion of a 24 hour personal and financial commitment. Fast forward to the mid 90’s she moved on to local and central government where she gained an appreciation of the important role that policy plays in our every day lives.

Our Industry Advisory Group critiques the relevancy and delivery of our courses and programmes.

• Brian Howie – Director of Operations (Millbrook Resort)
• Chris Ehmann – General Manager (Hilton Queenstown)
• Fiona Boyer – General Manager Customer (NZ Ski Ltd)
• Jim Moore – General Manager (Novotel Lakeside Queenstown)
• Jo Finnigan – General Manager (Hotel St Moritz)
• Meagan Schloeffel – Head of Sustainability (Air New Zealand)
• Jolanda Cave – General Manager (Ngai Tahu Tourism)
• Ali Appelman – Hotel Manager (Sudima, Queenstown | 5 Mile)
• Shane Wairau – Human Resources Manager (AJ Hackett)
• Peter Harris – QLDC Economic Development Manager
• Matt Wong – Owner of iFly Indoor Skydiving NZ

The concept of a tourism specific tertiary education provider in the heart of Aotearoa’s tourism capital was the work of  Sir Eion & his co-founding directors.  Sir Eion  was a accomplished businessman and philanthropist and served as the chairman of Forsyth Barr Group  for 20 years until his retirement in 2018.  Notably, Sir Eion was also chancellor of the University of Otago between 1999 and 2003  and was awarded an honorary doctorate in Law from the university. In a impressive list of achievements, Sir Eion Edgar was a director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, chairman of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, and president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (he was given the title of honorary president for life upon his retirement from the post in 2009). He was also a trustee of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand and of the Halberg Disability Foundation.

As an avid sports fan & with a keen interest in health, Sir Eion was chairman of  the Edgar Olympic Foundation, New Zealand Dementia Prevention Trust, and Winter Games NZ Charitable Trust. He was the official patron of Diabetes New Zealand, the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the New Zealand Football Foundation.  He helped in the creation of the University of Otago’s Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre, and also in the creation of the southern hemisphere’s largest single-building indoor sports arena, Dunedin’s Edgar Centre. In his fulltime ‘job’  role, he was instrumental in the company’s sponsorship of the Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin’s main international sports complex.

Edgar’s business and philanthropic work earned him numerous awards, including being named as 2004 NBR New Zealander of the Year, and induction into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame. In the 1996 Queen’s Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business management and the community and he was promoted to Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education, business and sport, in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours.  Following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in early 2009, Edgar accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Sir Eion Edgar, 30/01/1945 – 14/06/2021