Marc Bennie

2021 Cohort

Pronouns: he/him

Marc is creating capacity in tourism for deeper collaboration with First Nations peoples to enable greater visibility and access to genuine cultural education and engagement.

Based on Wangal Country in Sydney, New South Wales, Marc is General Manager, Indigenous Programs and Community Investment and Chair, Inclusion & Diversity Committee at Accor Pacific. Marc's work is based around Australia, predominantly where Accor's hotel properties and corporate offices are located. Beyond that, his work is also in Aotearoa, Fiji and French Polynesia. His work involves education, influence, engagement and inspiring internal and external stakeholders to connect with Indigenous people and other minority groups across the Pacific. Marc sees hospitality and tourism as a huge opportunity to engage, educate and share local history, culture and experiences with teams and guests.

Marc connects tourism to local communities with a view to shared learning, two way capability development and practice of First Nations cultures.

He is passionate about land, unique cultures and history. Like many non-First Nations people, he is motivated to connect more to true history and dedicate himself to better connecting with First Nations people, stories and knowledge to see where he can play a role in developing more equitable circumstances.

“I build relationships that positively influence education, equity and engagement with those whose voices have not been heard for too long.”

Social change work

Marc's social change project involved creating capacity in tourism for deeper collaboration with First Nations peoples to enable greater visibility and access to genuine cultural experiences. In turn, this can create opportunities to practice, preserve and share culture whilst providing employment and economic development within communities and, ultimately, a more unified and equitable Australia and world. Marc leads a program that aspires to positively impact social change, largely through employment and economic development. This work over the past seven years has given him confidence and evidence that tourism provides a significant opportunity to enable this.