Sam builds her knowledge of the local tourism industry

THE opportunity to learn more about the local tourism industry was too good to pass up for Camperdown’s Sam Fox.

Sam grew up in Perth and spent 16 years working in events, tourism and marketing for the City of Perth before moving to her husband’s home town of Camperdown.

“My family were originally from Mortlake so I knew the area and we thought it would be great for the kids to grow up in a regional setting,” she said.

Sam gained a position at Corangamite Shire in an economic development and event marketing role which then lead to an economic development and tourism coordinator role.

“I had been working at the shire for just short of three years and the opportunity arose for me to study the Certificate IV in Tourism at South West TAFE.

“I saw great value in it. From working at the City of Perth I had gained a strong background in events, tourism and marketing, but this was in a capital city on the other side of the country,” she said.

Sam said she found her studies to be beneficial to learn more about tourism in the local area.

“It was valuable that this was locally based, and we could gain knowledge about the greater Great Ocean Road region from local teachers with so much knowledge in this field.

“I’m still new to this region so to be able to learn more from an economic point of view how visitors travel in this area was valuable,” she said.

Sam said her studies had helped immensely in her current role and she was now considering studying the Diploma of Travel and Tourism at South West TAFE at some point in the future.