Christina Tulloch named president of Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association

A new-look board was announced at the association's annual general meeting on November 26, with Lindy Hyam handing over the baton to Ms Tulloch after two years as chair.

"It's a great time to hand over to the incoming president as part of board's generational change strategy. The past years have led the way for generational succession planning," Ms Hyam said.

"The new board has a good mix of the new leadership generation coming through, while retaining some valuable well-known experienced directors."

Along with Ms Tulloch and newly-appointed CEO Jessica Sullivan, the board members are Brian McGuigan (vice-president), Shaun O'Bryan (secretary), Ian Napier (treasurer), Sasha Degen, Stewart Ewen, Phil Hele, Stuart Hordern, Brad Russ and Chris Tyrrell.

Ms Hyam thanked retiring board member John Stevens for his tremendous contribution to tourism in the Hunter Valley.

Ms Tulloch said she and Ms Sullivan (who comes from a strong marketing research and digital background) look forward to continuing the great work the association does to ensure the Hunter Valley is the number one wine tourism destination in Australia.

"I am a strong believer in the power of a united voice in the form of our association and the valuable work it does around marketing and advocacy," she said.

"Ensuring engagement within our community and membership to achieve great things will be top of mind in my tenure as president.

"We are always greater than the sum of our parts when we can truly come together for a common goal."

The association recently won silver in the Destination Marketing category at the NSW Tourism Awards for its Hunter Valley 'Here's to the Good Life' campaign, and according to Destination NSW, the Hunter wine region has recorded an 11 percent increase in visitation in the past year.