Change of Command at Bali Hai Cruises

West Australian Rick William Appointed General Manager of Bali Hai Cruises.

(1/22/2011) Rick Williams has been appointed General Manager for Bali Hai Cruises, replacing Mark Ridge who held that position for nearly 3 years.

Williams began his tourism career with the Western Australian Tourism Commission based in Perth. There, he worked as a senior travel consultant marketing and retailing Western Australian products in the major interstate markets of Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

He was soon moved to the role of manager of the biggest Australian retail outlet in Sydney where he worked on projects connected with first defense of the America's Cup in 1987, an event that saw a record influx of tourists to Western Australia.

Following the cup defense, Rick went back to his home town of Perth to take up the position of marketing manager of Rally Australia, the inaugural Australian round of the prestigious FIA World Rally Championship underwritten by the Western Australian Tourism Commission.

During this assignment Rick developed a passion for event tourism leading to a change of employment to help manage The Hopman Cup which is staged annually in Perth. Rick joined initially as operations manager and was named general manager in 1998, a position he held until 2002. During his tenure the popularity and prestige of the tournament grew and was telecast to over 150 countries. In 2002, the ownership of The Hopman Cup passed to the International Tennis Federation seeing Williams appointed CEO, a position he held until 2007.

From 2007 until his new appointment as General Manager at Bali Hai Cruises Williams worked managing a range of major corporate events in Australia.

 Happy New year 2011