WHEN Marion Carrick and her mother Ruth first sat on the deck of the Stanthorpe Visitor Information Centre, they knew they had fallen in love with the Southern Downs.

Fast forward seven years and that love of the Southern Downs has blossomed into a new role for Ms Carrick.

The Alure Boutique Villas co-owner has been named the new general manager of Destination Southern Downs.

Describing herself as an “all in or not at all” person, Ms Carrick said there were exciting times ahead for DSD.

“I’m looking forward to taking it (DSD) to the next level,” she said.

“Our visitor guide has gone to print and our new website is being launched soon.

“I can clearly see in a month we’ll be in an excellent position.”

The new DSD general manager has been involved with tourism since she moved to the region seven years ago and bought the Alure Boutique Villas near Stanthorpe.

Since then she’s served on the Granite Belt Wine Tourism board, the tourism advisory committee, the Southern Downs Tourism Transition Reference Group and the DSD board as vice-chair.

Ms Carrick said her goal was for DSD to become the leading tourism body in Queensland.

“Our membership is growing, we already have 103 members,” she said.

“When our website is launched it’ll be something members and the region will be proud of.

“In another month tourism operators and members will see how much we have achieved in less than 12 months.”

As a tourism operator, Ms Carrick has spoken to thousands of visitors over the years.

She said for the region to be successful be successful in tourism, we need to focus on what the visitor wants, and needs

DSD board chair Corinne Butler said she was excited about the future with Ms Carrick at the helm of the region’s tourism.

“Marion’s past positions provides her with unique knowledge of the industry and our operations, enabling her to hit the ground running and immediately implement our strategic plan,” she said.