OUR COMMITTEE
The TIME Board is supported by a committee of dedicated, passionate travel and tourism industry representatives.
Andrew Gay
Andrew has extensive management experience across a wide range of travel industry sectors.
Andrew has spent 30+ years in the travel industry in a variety of roles including franchise groups, wholesale, retail, B2B, youth travel and technology solutions.
Based in Auckland, Andrew is passionate about People Management, along with transforming business operations, in terms of leadership, team, growth and profitability.
View Andrew’s LinkedIn profile
Stu Jones
Stu Jones has over 17 years of experience in the travel industry, spanning both retail and airline sectors. His journey began in New Zealand with Flight Centre, where he worked in retail before transitioning to the Air/Product Management team. In this role, he focused on upskilling and executing strategies for retail consultants across New Zealand.
Following his time at Flight Centre, Stu joined Air New Zealand, where he has had the privilege of working across multiple business units in both New Zealand and Australia. This diverse experience has equipped him with a deep understanding of global market dynamics in the aviation industry and a broad skill set for creating and executing strategic plans. In his current role as Senior Manager for Retail and TMC, Stu leads the Indirect Distribution Channel and sales team for the NZ region.
Stu is passionate about building collaborative partnerships that deliver meaningful value and benefits to all parties. He is also dedicated to fostering and developing people-centric cultures focused on personal and professional growth.
Dave Fordyce
Dave Fordyce joined the industry in early 2000, working for a wholesale travel company Travelplan Holidays. When Travelplan was acquired by House of Travel in 2001, Dave had a number of roles within the business, from negotiating airline commercial contracts through to managing the Air Consolidation unit. Dave became Managing Director of Travelplan Holidays in 2006 a position he retained until he left in 2011.
During the next three years Dave was the marketing manager at First Travel Group before a brief stint with Air New Zealand as the Head of Ancillary. In 2015, Dave returned to House of Travel where he currently is the Chief Operating Officer of the company’s internal Air, Land and Cruise wholesale operation.
Dave is passionate about partnerships in the industry and how collaboration between businesses can bring outstanding results. He’s also passionate about his team and developing and challenging them to achieve their full potential as leaders in the industry. Dave loves numbers and metrics and uses these to ensure that the business is achieving and ensuring that corrective action is taken when things may not be quite on course. Finally, Dave first and foremost, with his wife are parents to their 2 teenage kids.
Gaye Wood
With an awarded career in International Hotels, Airlines and Tourism spanning more than 25 years, Gaye’s career has taken her across the globe working in senior management roles for some of the world’s most successful companies and resorts – in Australia, USA, the Maldives and New Zealand.
Holding a Post-Graduate degree from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), Gaye has also been the recipient of numerous business & tourism awards including: Winner – Australian Hotels Association (AHA) Sales and Marketing Professional of the Year, and Winner – American Airlines Sales Achievement Award.
Her active involvement in both business and tourism industry circles has seen her hold the positions of Governor – American Chamber of Commerce NSW, President -SKAL International Sydney, and SKAL International, Auckland.
Grant Bevin
Grant has a background in the airline industry, starting his career as a commercial trainee with Air New Zealand, followed by a decade with Lufthansa.
In 1992, he launched Business World Travel in Auckland, eventually selling to UK-based ATPI in 2017. Grant is Managing Director of ATPI NZ Ltd. Although a specialist TMC, ATPI in New Zealand has a diversified portfolio with groups/ sports as well as a significant luxury leisure division. The company is a Virtuoso member and Grant sits on Collaboration Groups with Virtuoso’s most established members in Australia.
Grant is a founding shareholder in First Travel Group where he currently chairs FTG 1999 Ltd, is a life-member of the German-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Wharton Business School in Philadelphia.
Joseph O’Sullivan
Joseph first entered the travel industry 30 years ago when, in partnership with his brother Donal, they founded Cruise World, an independent cruise wholesale and representative company based in New Zealand.
The goal was to provide expertise and partnership to NZ agents and to assist them to recognise the potential to grow sales in the fledging cruise industry. At the same time they started Travel Marketing Brochurenet.
Completely client focussed and leveraging off their understanding of the needs of the travel and tourism industries the business soon grew into New Zealand’s largest brochure and collateral distribution company.
Then 20 years ago Joseph with his two partners set up the small ship luxury and expedition wholesaler and representative company, Cruise Traveller, in the Australian market. He is Managing Director of that enterprise.
View Joseph’s LinkedIn profile
Lindy Christian
Lindy has 30+ years experience in senior and executive roles within the industry in NZ and Australia covering retail, wholesale, consolidation, product procurement both air and land , product development, product database development & management. Her career started in the 80’s with the launch of Budget Travel ,one of the original “travel disruptors “ in the NZ travel industry. Budget Travel was part of the Gulliver’s Travel Group , which grew via organic growth and a range of acquisitions to be the largest vertically integrated travel company in NZ. Lindy was part of the executive management team who developed and managed the business through this phase of business transformation , culminating in the successful listing of The Gulliver’s Group on the NZX in 2005.
The Group was then purchased by Australian interests, Lindy moved to the role of General Manager , Global Product Purchasing (wholesale) for the larger Australasian entity, The Stella Travel Group, which after 2 years acquired and merged into the Jetset Travel Group. She continued in the greatly expanded role and focused on the strategic development required to merge all the product procurement processes and systems while ensuring a strong commercial focus was maintained. The Jetset Travel Group was rebranded Helloworld Travel in 2014.
A key to Lindy’s ongoing success over 30 years was being supported by strong mentors at stages of her career but also her ability to choose the right people to work with her and with them develop strong successful teams to manage the range of functions she was responsible for during this period of constant transformation.
Lindy left Helloworld in 2016 and moved back to NZ permanently after having commuted between Sydney and Auckland for 5 years while she managed large teams in both sides of the Tasman.
Now a partner in Our World Ltd in Auckland ,a part-time role focused on the strategic development of the business. The role allows Lindy to participate in TIME(NZ) as she firmly believes that mentors can contribute in a very positive way to the ongoing development of our people, the cornerstone to the success of the NZ travel industry.
- Bachelor of Commerce – Auckland University
- Executive Management Program- Stanford University , Calif, USA
- Chairperson: OTOC- Overseas Tour Operators Council -5 years
Daniel (Dan) Wright
Daniel (Dan) has spent his entire working career in the travel industry. Having graduated from the International Travel College of New Zealand, his first ever full-time job was with JUCY Rentals, in their reservations team. He says this was the perfect first role in travel with a fun and thriving brand and team.
After 18 months with JUCY, Dan took off to Europe for a Contiki and a “six-month” working holiday in London; naturally this turned into a 10-year stay. Throughout that time, Dan worked for Flight Centre in the hustle and bustle of their flagship Oxford Street store, before stints in the luxury and special interest sectors.
In 2018, Dan joined the South Australian Tourism Commission, spearheading their trade marketing strategy throughout the UK and Northern Europe. Three years later, in the midst of a COVID pandemic and with the first of his two children on the way, Dan and his wife made the decision to move home to Auckland. Luckily, Tourism Australia were hiring at the time and he landed his current role, where he leads all things trade and partnerships for the Kiwi market. Dan is obsessed with telling the Australian story and cherishes the relationships made throughout the travel industry.
View Daniel’s LinkedIn profile.
Debbie Gyde
Debbie Gyde is currently the General Manager Customer + Partnerships for AMP Wealth Management, an Executive position within the AMP New Zealand structure. Deb has been with AMP since 2021 and is responsible for the leadership, strategic development, and commercial performance of AMP’s face to face sales teams on a national basis, with end-to-end accountability for optimising all sales channels and business partnerships. She is the primary leader of interaction across direct and indirect distribution- Corporate, Government, IFA Distribution and other major B2B entities.
Prior to her role at AMP, Deb spent close to 20 years within the travel and tourism industry across Airline and TMC. Positions included GM Corporate for Helloworld – APX / Go C&I, Senior Manager National Cargo at Air New Zealand, Senior Manager Corporate and SME at Air New Zealand, Regional Sales Manager Corporate and Government at Air New Zealand, Customer Experience Manager at Air New Zealand, and National Business Development Manager at Air New Zealand.
Deb is passionate about people, partnerships and performance. A connector by nature, she’s comfortable working in highly dynamic environments to create the best experience for customers. Deb is excited to be joining the Time committee and continue with her work as a TIME mentor.
View Debbie’s LinkedIn profile
Will Ashcroft
Will Ashcroft, originally from Cornwall, UK, has been in the travel industry for the past 20 years, 14 of which have been in travel insurance. Will joined Cover-More Travel insurance in July 2019, and is the Managing Director of the New Zealand and Malaysia business units.
Before joining Cover-More, Will was Chief Sales Officer for 10 years at insurer, Allianz Partners, in New Zealand. Will has also held a variety of leadership travel roles in the UK, India and New Zealand, including managing an offshore sales team in Delhi and running an Adventure Travel company based in Auckland.
Two of Will’s major passions are travel and sustainability. As travel recovers post COVID-19, we have a unique opportunity to build a more resilient and environmentally sustainable industry to benefit everyone, including the planet.
Angela Mills
With over two decades of dedicated service in the dynamic world of travel, Angela has had the privilege of witnessing the industry’s remarkable evolution and contributing to its growth. Her journey has been one of constant learning and development, which aligns seamlessly with her passion for fostering the growth of aspiring professionals in the travel sector.
Angela’s voyage in the travel industry commenced in 1997 when she embarked on an exhilarating career within the finance team. This experience taught her the importance of financial acumen in the travel business, and she quickly realised that the industry was not merely about destinations but also the meticulous management of resources.
She then transitioned to the sports tours team, a shift that allowed her to combine her passion for sports and travel. This unique role provided her with insights into the intricacies of organising seamless travel experiences for sports enthusiasts, underlining the industry’s versatility.
Subsequently, Angela found her niche in conference and incentive travel for corporate businesses. In this capacity, she honed her skills in crafting tailor-made travel solutions that catered to the specific needs and objectives of corporate clients. This role reinforced her belief in the pivotal role of travel in fostering business success and employee motivation.
Since 2008, Angela has been privileged to be a part of the Travel Managers Group in a senior operations role, and became a senior leader within the Flight Centre business when they purchased Travel Managers in 2017. Here, she has had the opportunity to assist independent business owners in the travel industry to thrive and expand their enterprises. Guiding these entrepreneurs through the intricacies of the travel business has been a deeply rewarding experience and has solidified her commitment to nurturing talent and expertise in the industry.
Angela’s journey is a testament to the vast potential for growth and development in the travel sector. She firmly believes that her experience in various facets of the travel industry has equipped her with a unique perspective that can be invaluable to individuals seeking to carve their path in this exciting field.
View Angela’s LinkedIn profile
Margaret Spiro – Programme Manager NZ
Margaret has many years of experience in the travel industry in sales & marketing roles across a range of industry’s including retail, wholesale, cruise, events and National Tourism offices. Apart from a short break whilst living overseas, travel & tourism is the only career journey Marg has been on.
She says being involved with TIME in NZ since the beginning has been so rewarding and watching the industry’s future leaders develop and grow and just being part of their amazing journey has been incredible.
View Margaret’s LinkedIn profile
