Dr Leo Jago joins with more than 20 years of experience in the business events and tourism sector in Australia and the UK. Photo Credit: Business Events Council of Australia
The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) has announced the
appointment of Dr Leo Jago as the new Independent Chair of the industry
body.
Jago joins with more than 20 years of experience in the business
events and tourism sector in Australia and the UK, including his time as
the inaugural Chief Economist and General Manager of Tourism Research
Australia from 2012 to 2014, where he was responsible for the
establishment and management of Australia’s national tourism research
agenda.
The industry stalwart also co-led BECA's inaugural landmark National
Business Events Study in 2005, as Deputy CEO and Director for Research
of the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism, helped
establish the UN World Tourism Organisation guidelines for assessing the
economic impact of business events, and was heavily involved in the
early work to identify the ‘beyond tourism’ value of business events.
In 2016, Dr Jago was awarded an Order of Australia in the Queen's
Birthday Honours List for services to the tourism industry and
education.
He concurrently runs a consultancy focused on business events.
"I am delighted to be taking on this role with BECA as I believe that
the peak body will be instrumental in helping drive the recovery of
business events and building Australia’s economy," said Jago.
Jago takes on the new role from previous chair Dr Vanessa Findlay, who stepped down in June 2021.