INAUGURAL Tourism North East chief executive officer Sara Quon has resigned from the position to take up a newly created role with the Beechworth Honey group of companies.
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Ms Quon will begin the role with Beechworth Honey early next year after being with Tourism North East since 2011.
She moved from Melbourne to spearhead the body responsible for tourism promotion of Indigo, Wangaratta, Alpine, Benalla, Mansfield and Towong council areas and the alpine resorts of Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller.
Her position was advertised for the first time at the weekend.
"It is an exciting regional opportunity with a great business and some pretty inspiring owners has come up," Ms Quon said.
"It is a wonderful place to live and I'm excited about another opportunity in the region I can put my hand to."
Tourism North East is based in Beechworth.
Originally from New Zealand, Ms Quon joined Tourism North East after working for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival for four years as marketing director followed by a stint as acting chief executive.
She also worked extensively in the dairy industry.
Beechworth Honey has its headquarters in Corowa, but has a strong presence in Beechworth with the opening of a discovery centre in the former Bank of NSW building located in Ford Street.
It is operated by Steve and Jodie Goldsworthy who saw the need to appoint a chief executive officer to oversee its many operations.
"The business has evolved from a young primary production couple who did everything themselves," Ms Goldsworthy said.
"It has become really clear to us we needed a ceo to oversee the Beechworth Honey group of companies.
"We've got stacks of stuff happening in all of those mini entities.
"We've got a fantastic team, but it became really clear that there is only a certain amount you could spread yourself around.
"Our skill sets are not those of a ceo and we will continue to work in areas where our skills can be best utilised."
Beechworth Honey employs 50 people and is bouncing back from a period where Australian beekeepers faced honey production losses of between 50 and 90 per cent due to extreme weather events.
Ms Goldsworthy was a board member when Tourism North East was established and has been impressed with Ms Quon's performance in a start-up tourism body.
"We are bringing Sara on to leverage those opportunities we've been able to findin testing circumstances."
It is a wonderful place to live and I'm excited about another opportunity in the region I can put my hand to
- Sara Quon
