Tony Everitt has been employed to take up the role from February 1, 2010.
Mr Everitt (48) has 15 years of experience in tourism marketing, including three executive jobs for Tourism New Zealand between 1993 and 2006, as regional manager for Japan, marketing manager operations based in Wellington and regional manager for Asia based in Singapore.
Since 2006 he has been the chief executive for south-pacific.travel, a non-profit organisation marketing and developing tourism in the South Pacific.
Destination Queenstown chairman Mark Quickfall said the 40 applicants for the job had been of a very high standard and the organisation was fortunate to find a candidate of Mr Everitt's calibre.
Queenstown Mayor Clive Geddes welcomed the appointment, saying the board had put a great effort into the recruitment.
"I am sure Mr Everitt will be a positive addition to the management of Destination Queenstown," he said.
Alastair Porter, chairman for the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, said he looked forward to working with Mr Everitt.
Mr Everitt was excited about the job, and was anticipating the opportunity to market one of the world's premier holiday destinations.
"The Queenstown brand is already in great shape, but there will be room to expand on it as the economy picks up," he said.
With the Australian market already strong and the domestic market set to strengthen as the economy improved, Mr Everitt believed it was time to think more about the long-haul market.
He told the Otago Daily Times he would spend time getting to know the local industry and its requirements.
The chief executive role had been held by David Kennedy until October 2008.
He was succeeded by Stephen Pahl, who left unexpectedly in September to return to Australia.
Ken Matthews, chairman of Skyline Enterprises, has been acting chief executive since then.
Mr Everitt will move to Queenstown with his wife and their 15-year-old son.
