The business development manager is joining premium travel experiences business Alpine Luxury Tours this coming Monday, where she’ll take a strategic approach to building and expanding the business.
Established in the Whakatipu over a decade ago and operated by Lee Saunders, Alpine Luxury Tours provides private tours showcasing the best of New Zealand to thousands of visitors from around the world each year.
In her previous role, McIntosh was DQ’s trade business development manager, leading the development and implementation of a regional trade strategy across DQ and Lake Wānaka Tourism, representing the Southern Lakes at major tourism trade shows, delivering multiple overseas roadshows and building and maintaining strategic partnerships with Tourism NZ and key travel trade stakeholders.
She says having spent so long representing "an incredible portfolio of operators in a world-class visitor destination", she’s excited to work with Saunders and his business.
"I’ve had the privilege of working in a role that’s taken me to memorable places and enabled me to develop deep partnerships with valued operators and industry partners worldwide.
"Lee is a dynamic and passionate owner-operator whose dedication and input have been the driving force behind his success.
"It’s an exciting time to join the business so I can take a strategic approach to building on this next chapter with further expansion in the pipeline as of October 1 this year."
Saunders believes McIntosh’s experience, knowledge and contacts will be invaluable assets for the company as it takes on "rapid growth" over the next two months, which includes an increased commitment to sustainable tourism.
The vision, he says, it to become the South Island’s leading provider of luxury private experiences.
"Linda is perfectly positioned to help us develop and execute strategies to increase bookings, market presence and global brand recognition in niche markets within the luxury travel sector," Saunders says.
