Tourism chief to head up Fairfax events

Fairfax Media has poached the head of Tourism Australia, Andrew McEvoy, to head its events business, underlining its importance to the media group's future as traditional print revenues decline.

"Andrew's brief is to rapidly develop what is already a core strength of Fairfax Media," chief executive Greg Hywood said. "Events are a growth sector in the Australian economy and Andrew's appointment will drive new revenue and greatly enhance Fairfax's performance in the sector."

Fairfax has already developed a portfolio of mass participation and corporate events across its main mastheads, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review. These include the City2Surf and Night Noodle Markets, the AFR's Women of Influence, and a range of business media forums and conferences, and regional events and field days.

In the company's annual report Mr Hywood said Fairfax generates more than $25 million of revenue a year from events across the group.

Mr McEvoy said he was excited "to join Fairfax as it seeks to grow revenue in areas that capitalise on core strengths such as events and content creation".