CAMERON ARNOLD
tourism executive, ACCOMMODATION Coach AND PRODUCT ADVISOR
As an industry leader, Cameron has an extensive career in the hospitality and tourism industry, having held senior management and executive positions in more than 30 hotel and resort operations throughout Australasia and using this experience in leadership roles representing and advocating for the tourism industry. He has owned and operated his own businesses including Restaurants, Apartment Complex and Glamping operations. Current board and advisory roles are:
Chair - Destination North Coast
Member - NSW Tourism Industry Council (TIC)
President - Northern Rivers Business Chamber Regional Advisory Council (RAC)
Board Member - Cape Byron Trust
Hub Chair - Leaders For Impact Northern Rivers
advocacy & leadership
Cameron has held numerous leadership roles for the industry in regional tourism over the past 12 years having been Chair of the regional tourism organisations for the North Coast of NSW for this length of time including the appointment to the Destination North Coast as its inaugural Chair. As the current President of the Northern Rivers branch of the NSW Business Chamber Regional Advisory Council he sits on the State Council for the NSW Business Chamber. He was the inaugural President and instrumental in the formation of Destination Byron, the local tourism organisation for Byron Shire since 2011 and sits on the NSW Business Chamber state tourism advisory council (NSW TIC). He also sits on the Cape Byron Trust Board, the Northern Rivers Rail Trail Management committee and has been a judge for the NSW State Tourism Awards. In 2016 Cameron was awarded "Outstanding Contribution by an Individual" at the NSW Tourism Awards, the industries highest acknowledgement in NSW.
management
In his commercial endeavors, Cameron was CEO and founder of Flash Camp, a revolutionary glamping operation offering "pop-up hotels" and temporary accommodation across Australia. Flash Camp won Gold at the 2015 NSW tourism awards for Specialised tourism services. He held the leasehold of Apartments Inn Byron, a multi-award winning 43 room hotel in the very heart of Byron Bay since 2009 and was CEO of Consolidated Domain Resorts, managing letting agreements for over 1000 rooms along the eastern seaboard, including 420 in the Tweed Coast region of Northern NSW.
Cameron is available for guest speaker engagements on tourism, accommodation management, digital use in tourism, future trends in these sectors and local and regional tourism matters.
accomplishments
Outstanding Contribution by an Individual
Nov 2016 - NSW Tourism Awards 2016
Honoured to be recognised by my industry peers for my contribution to local, regional and state tourism over the past 9 years in NSW Tourism.
Deluxe Accommodation
Nov 2012 - NSW Tourism Awards
Finalist
Apartments Inn Byron was a finalist in the NSW State awards in 2012
Finalist - AUSTRALIAN TOURISM AWARDS
2015 - Australian Tourism Awards
Flash Camp is a finalist in the Australian Tourism Awards for Specialised Tourism Service
Bronze award winner 2015 NSW Tourism Awards
Oct 2015 - NSW Tourism Awards
Apartments Inn Byron has become the Bronze Award winner for Deluxe Accommodation at the NSW Tourism Awards 2015
Gold and Silver Award winner NSW Tourism Awards 2015
Oct 2015 - NSW Tourism Awards
Flash Camp named as the Gold award winner for Specilalized Tourism Services and the Silver award winner for Unique Accommodation.
BEST NEW TOURISM DEVELOPMENT - GOLD WINNER
Nov 2008 - NSW Tourism Awards
Santai Resort Casuarina was the Gold Award Winner for the ‘Best New Tourism Development’ in 2008.
Best New Tourism Development - Silver Award Winner
Nov 2014 - NSW Tourism Awards
Flash Camp was the winner of ‘Best New Tourism Development’.
Unique Accommodation - Bronze Award Winner
Nov 2014 - NSW Tourism Awards
Flash Camp was awarded Bronze in the NSW awards in 2014.
Areas that Cameron contributes to:
1) The Tourism Industry.
This has been a huge part of my life for over 35 years and currently, it is in a whole world of pain. Whilst I have contributed in a variety of roles over my career, I will keep contributing to rebuild, regenerate and recover the industry that I love. This will be through my recently extended role’s at Destination North Coast and Cape Byron Trust and any opportunity that may come forward where my skills and experience can assist.
2) The Environment.
I am proud to have launched a new venture - Fly to Feed, that will make a difference to climate change in dealing with the reduction of food waste and diverting it from landfill. Having worked through 4 prototypes, establishing supply chains and settling on a business model in an area I am not overly familiar, we are ready to launch. This will be a contribution to dealing with the huge problem that organic food waste is to landfill at over 30% of current levels. We have residential and commercial systems available at www.flytofeed.com
3) Mental Health and WellBeing.
I am making time for any business leader that may be struggling with their own mental health in these really difficult times. If you need to share, off-load, reach out or bounce ideas off someone, please contact me via linkedin message. In my roles with Leaders for Impact, Business NSW and Destination North Coast one of our greatest concerns is that business leaders and owners carry the burden of their entire teams without an outlet for themselves and this is one contribution I can offer.
4) Local Community.
After 10 years of working, planning, advocating and fundraising for the creation of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail we now have 53km of the 130km trail fully funded, having lobbied for over $30m from both Federal and State Governments. This will be one of the most significant pieces of infrastructure for our local Northern Rivers community. Under the mask of a world class tourism product, the benefits for the local communities along the old Rail corridor will be massive and I feel so proud to have contributed to this project along with so many other amazing supporters and will keep contributing to make this entire Rail Trail a reality.