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Board of directors


Dennis Bunnik

Chairman

CEO at Bunnik Tours

Dennis has 30 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, including hotels, travel agencies, education, major events, and tour operations. He has formal education qualifications in tourism and is a Chartered Management Accountant. Dennis is the joint-CEO of Bunnik Tours, has been a CATO board member for ten years (Chair since 2015), and has been instrumental in the evolution of CATO to where it is today as the peak industry voice for the land-supply sector.


Brett Jardine

Managing Director

CATO

Brett has over three decades of experience across the travel industry and since 2017, has overseen the transformation of CATO, a 23-year-old industry body representing the land-supply sector made up of Australian based tour operators and wholesalers. During his tenure at CATO, Brett has significantly increased advocacy activity in support of members that play a critical role in the development and delivery of premium leisure-based travel for Australians to travel safely around the world.


Lisa Pagotto

Vice Chair

Founder at Crooked Compass

Crooked Compass Founder, Lisa has a fascinating journey of creating one of Australia's leading niche travel brands. Lisa's efforts in the experiential travel space, have directly influenced the development of the experiential travel movement. Lisa brings to CATO, the opportunity for smaller members to have a bigger voice, as boutique operators needs differ greatly to our larger members whilst working together to deliver a wholistic voice and maximum value to all categories of membership.


Aaron Zoanetti

Board Member

Partner at Pointon Partners Lawyers

Aaron is a travel law specialist and Principal at Frontera Law – a specialist travel, tourism & events legal practice. Aaron also operates sports travel company ‘Green & Gold Army’, which specialises in large-group tours to FIFA World Cups. Aaron’s unique mix of industry specific legal knowledge and commercial experience enabled him to play an important role in framing the ACCC’s guidance for Covid-19 related travel cancellations.


Julie King

Board Member

CEO at Julie King and Associates

Julie joined the CATO Board in 2015 and is an entrepreneur and industry leader with over 35 years of international success, consulting to the global tourism and travel sectors. She operates an award-winning representation agency and consultancy – Julie King & Associates, and a purpose-led Global Travel & Tourism Community Platform- Bonailie, committed to driving change and uniting the industry to collaborate, shape the future of tourism and drive a positive impact on the world.


James O'Donnell

Board Member

Finance Director at The Travel Corporation AU

James has been with The Travel Corporation (TTC) for more than 20 years and is in a unique position where he understands the complexities of finance, regulations, and challenges that CATO members face every day within the travel industry. James is a prestigious FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant) who spent several years in the UK gaining global experience through various exposures to hospitality and media businesses prior to joining TTC. 


Liz Anderson

Board Member

Managing Director at Sundowners Overland

Liz joined the CATO board in 2018 and has been involved in numerous initiatives supporting the organisations strategic direction. Liz began her time at Sundowners Overland as a client before moving from a career in IT consulting to spend time on the road as a Tour Leader, progressing through Operations roles to become Managing Director at Sundowners in 2011 where she has continued the focus of the company on Sharing Asia Overland. Differently.


Brad McDonnell

Board Member

Managing Director at Entire Travel Group

Brad has a diverse background including Accenture, a global IT consulting business headquartered in Chicago. He was a Project Manager working across industries including Finance, Education and Manufacturing. In 2007 he entered the travel industry by purchasing French Travel Connection. Over the following 15 years several specialist wholesale brands were launched including Tahiti Travel Connection. CIT Holidays was acquired in 2018, and in 2019 more than ten wholesale brands were consolidated under Entire Travel Group.


Sean Martin

Board Member

Managing Director at G Adventures 

Sean's background is primarily in distribution, including 15 years in executive roles at Flight Centre Travel Group, including General Manager of Student Flights and My Adventure Travel. He possesses a diverse set of skills, including distribution, product, strategy, and leadership development. He brings a unique retail distribution perspective to the board that has greatly enhanced CATO's overall knowledge base.


Martin Edwards

Board Member

Co-Founder at The Explorer Society

Martin started his travel career in the UK before moving to Australia in 2008 where he spent 12 years at Bench Africa and leading the team as General Manager. Martin has now transitioned from working at one of the oldest travel companies in Australia, to co-founding one of the youngest travel companies in Australia, The Explorer Society. This is Martin’s second spell sitting on the CATO Board having previously held Board & Vice Chair positions between 2015-21.


Yvette Thompson

Board Member

GM Sales Sales & Partnership Intrepid Travel

Yvette has dedicated the past 16 years of her career to the Travel Industry, across wholesale and GDS. She has spent the past 10 years at Intrepid Travel, a B-corp accredited company, where she has worked her way up from Business Development Manager to her current role of GM Sales & Partnerships. Yvette is proud to serve on Intrepid’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) committee and is focused on ensuring that our industry is continually working towards a more inclusive, innovative and equitable future.

"Inspiring innovative & sustainable travel"



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