karine thomas
Director, Navigate Oceania

Sales, marketing and media strategy with implementation
Speciality: Luxury tourism sales, marketing and communications strategy

Karine Thomas designs strategic marketing communication strategies that work for small, medium and large luxury travel and tourism companies, making her one of the most successful marketing, press and public relations specialists in Australasian and South Pacific luxury travel and tourism.

After an early career in sales and marketing of luxury hotels in London with the Hyde Park Hotel (now the Mandarin Oriental), she went on to work in senior sales, marketing and publicity roles with such major hotel companies as Forte Hotels, Shangri La, Radisson, Small Luxury Hotels and Starwood based in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. She returned to New Zealand as Director Sales and Marketing, Sheraton Auckland Hotel and Towers in 2000, managing a team of 17 and at that time the largest luxury hotel and conferencing facility in New Zealand.

A winner of many important tourism and advertising awards in both New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific, Karine continues to excel by winning awards annually for her current client list.

Karine's network of travel and media contacts, and her solid experience in the international luxury tourism market working with consortiums such as Virtuoso, Signature and American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, ensures Navigate can provide a cost-effective source of targeted marketing and press coverage for clients.

A Board member of the New Zealand Tourism Industry Association and inaugral member of the Pure Luxury Board since 2006, Karine completed her Master of Management (Luxury Branding) at the University of Auckland, holds a Post-Graduate Diploma (Business), University of Auckland and a Graduate Diploma of Advanced Hotel Markting from the prestigious Cornell University in NY, USA. In 2010 Karine was a finalist in the Veuve Clicquot (New Zealand) Business Awards.