WITH big ideas and a positive mind Corinne Butler is ready to tackle the challenge of uniting Stanthorpe and Warwick's tourism sectors.

The human resources coach, mediator and trainer was appointed chairwoman of the new tourism body Destination Southern Downs last week.

Following her passion for aligning people and business strategy, Ms Butler said she was really excited and looking forward to the opportunity to work with the local tourism industry.

"I'm feeling very positive because the Southern Downs is an amazing place, with amazing people and amazing sights," she said.

"I think we have a good board with a range of talents."

The Destination Southern Downs board had their first meeting this week, discussing a range of issues relating to getting the organisation off the ground.

Ms Butler said the board agreed at the meeting to take the positive first step of appointing an interim general manager.

"The key focus of the board will be developing a strategic plan for the region, approval of major projects and budgets and advocating on behalf of operators at all levels of government," she said.

"We look forward to providing strategic direction and support to the interim general manager of Destination Southern Downs."

The board agreed they were happy with the outcomes of their first meeting and were pleased the organisation would be operational by July 1.

Ms Butler has more than a decade of experience in human resources on the Southern Downs, and more recently was the driving force behind the creation of the Women of Warwick and the Business Network of Warwick.

"These are two good community organisations all about bringing the community together," she said.

"My experience will bring governance and team building, also consultation and communication."

One of the first acts of the new board was driven by community feedback on a lack of wine industry representation on the board.

Vice-chairwoman Marion Carrick said it had been decided at the meeting to fill the two vacancies on the current board.

"Given the recommendation was to have three industry representatives from the north and three from the south, we will be looking for one representative from the north and one from the south to fill vacancies," she said.

"The board hopes that we are able to balance the representation with industries that are currently not represented."

Ms Butler said a lot of the work for promoting the local tourism industry had already been done.

"I think a lot of it is going to be marketing what we already have," she said.