Ned Sweetapple speaks of new role as Orange 360 general manager

The city's tourism boss took over the role from outgoing general manager Caddie Marhsall in December, with the new woman in charge praising her predecessor.

"Caddie Marshall has done an amazing job for the last five years and I think the business is in an amazing position," she said.

"The success of Orange and the region is the sum of the parts and I'm very excited to be at the helm and to steer this for the next three to five years."

Ned Sweetapple isn't a stranger to the Central West either.

Having grown up on a farm near Canowindra, she would then move to Sydney for her schooling, before getting her first taste of the tourism industry in north-east Victoria, working for ski resort, Mount Buffalo Chalet.

"It's a beautiful area not dissimilar to Orange because it has its high country, food and outdoor tourism," she said.

"I did a little bit of work around Cowra because my mother ran a restaurant for ten years in Cowra."

Prior to her move to Orange six years ago as part of Rabobank, she was employed by Rugby Australia, where she worked within the hospitality, corporate sponsorship and events sector.

"When I moved to Orange, it was for a number of reasons. You could call it a tree change, but I felt it was coming home," she said.

"I wanted to work somewhere in regional NSW. That really appealed to me. Orange has so much going for it in terms of industry and business, health and schools. There's so much in Orange already that is so wonderful, so it was a great connection to be able to do that."

But when the opportunity came along to help grow the region she was living in, she had her next venture locked in.

"Everyone is so welcoming and supportive and Orange is full of world-class, well-established, sophisticated tourism and hospitality businesses," she said.

"It also has a lot of volunteer communities who really drive those events and have been doing that very successfully for many years.

"I'm very excited about what's here and wanting to uncover that, to bring members and the town together to create that real destination location."

She believes having lived in both regional and metropolitan locations will give her a leg up in trying to expand Orange's appeal to other areas within the state and beyond.

"It's at that stage where you can step in and take something that's fantastic and bring it into different markets," she added.

"What I think my experience out of the region brings is that I've had the opportunity to work across international sporting events, I've worked internationally in arts. So I've got a range of industries that I've worked in, all tied together in marketing, events and customer engagement."

With a passion for food and events, the new Orange360 boss believes that now is the perfect time for the region to grow.

"Off the back of Covid, I think we have a great opportunity. While there are lots of recovery plans in place for the Central West, I think what Covid showed Australians is they can very happily travel in their backyard," she said.

"I think that's a great opportunity to drive that message and get people to come back to Orange time after time, because there is so much to do that. We want repeat visitors. We want Orange to stay front of mind to them as their next destination."

So together with the Cabonne and Blayney, Ned Sweetapple hopes that her time in charge of Orange 360 will one to remember, not only for businesses, but those within the community as a whole.

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