Looking international: best practices in sustainable tourism (English)

Discover how Queenstown and Bordeaux have combined sustainability and innovation in their tourism practices. This session highlights the experiences of Queenstown, New Zealand, and Bordeaux, France, two leading destinations for sustainable and innovative tourism. They will share their best practices, experiments and lessons learned to inspire us all.

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Who is Mat Woods
Mat is currently General Manager of Destination Queenstown (DQ). Prior to joining DQ, Mat was responsible for sales and services at Cardrona Alpine Resort (CARL) and Treble Cone and was involved in the acquisition of Treble Cone, securing development rights in the SOHO Basin. Mat left CARL to join parent company RealNZ as General Manager of Experience Whakatipu, overseeing the Queenstown operations of TSS Earnslaw, Walter Peak, Jet Boating and Water Taxis.

Mat has a strong background in governance. He is currently a director at Sport Otago Regional Tourism NZ and Racers Edge in Wānaka. He recently served on the board of Snow Sports NZ and was chairman of Lake Wānaka Tourism.

Prior to joining the tourism industry, Mat had extensive experience in outdoor adventure sports retailing. He was General Manager of R&R Sport before selling to The Warehouse Group, merging R&R Sport with Torpedo 7.

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Who is Olivier Occelli

After graduating with a Master's degree in Service Management, specializing in marketing and tourism, Olivier began his career in Paris, working for the tourist boards of South Korea and Cyprus. Then, in 2008, he joined the Lyon Metropolitan Area Tourist Office team as Marketing and Communications Director. For ten years, he worked on the city's tourism development, contributing in particular to the deployment of the ONLYLYON brand. Since 2019, he has been at the helm of the Bordeaux Convention and Visitors Bureau, with the aim of making the metropolis a pioneering destination, committed to and recognized for the development of responsible tourism. Thanks to the actions deployed by the Tourist Office's teams and the dynamism of the destination's professionals, Bordeaux was crowned "European Capital of Smart Tourism" in 2022 by the European Union, and this year, 2024, has climbed into the Top 6 of the GDS-Index international barometer, which is the authority on metropolises' commitment to sustainable tourism.