Industry stalwart and marketing expert Karen Bolinger has been appointed CEO of Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) and is expected to take up her post next month.

Bolinger, who has been in the meetings industry for more than 20 years, replaces Sandra Chipchase who resigned in August to head up tourism and events authority Destination New South Wales (NSW).

Most recently Bolinger was the general manager, strategy and marketing, for the Royal Agricultural Society (NSW), a position she held for three years. Before that she was general manager of the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau and previously held senior sales and marketing positions at Sheraton on the Park in Sydney and the Renaissance Sydney Hotel.

She said: “Melbourne is Australia’s leading business events capital and I look forward to working with the city and team to continue to build the momentum created.”

MCVB chairman Chris Barlow said Bolinger was the ‘stand out’ from an extremely strong field of candidates and displayed the ‘skills, motivation and passion’ for the role and would be ‘in a position to build on the outstanding and record-breaking success of MCVB’.

Bolinger will start at MCVB on 7 November.

Pictured: Karen Bolinger