From international stars to a great love story, read the incredible life of Scott Lovett

Scott Lovett is in the middle of an incredible corporate career, having met and worked with everyone from US President Barack Obama to Jon Bon Jovi. READ HIS STORY.

Scotty leading a delegation from the European Union around the Northern Territory, helping to promote and drive investment in our economy. Picture: SUPPLIED

SCOTT Lovett is in the middle of an incredible corporate career, having met and worked with everyone from US President Barack Obama to rock star Jon Bon Jovi.

For more than a decade, Scotty has been dedicated to advancing the Northern Territory – building our economy and showcasing us to the world.

He is the Territory Government’s general manager of Strategy and Policy. Scott is also on the boards of NT Major Events and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Scott has worked under the Henderson, Mills, Giles and Gunner Governments. Behind the scenes, with great diligence and skill, is Scott Lovett – the man in the engine room.

Scotty’s greatest satisfaction though is at home with his wonderful wife Jenna, and beautiful daughters Scarlett and Kenzie.

His love of the Territory came early in life.

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“I was born in Melbourne. Dad (Dean) was a geologist, so we moved around quite a bit as a kid. We lived on the Atherton Tableland behind Cairns, Mackay, Brisbane. Then in Year 5 we moved to Adelaide,” he said.

“Dad worked for North Flinders Mines. He started the Granites Gold Mine. Dad’s team found the Callie deposit, which is what they currently mine out there.

“My brother Tim and I would hang out in the exploration camps. We’d be chasing perenties around. I hung out in Alice a fair bit.

“I just felt this natural affinity to Alice. It was always quintessentially the Outback. That sense of mystery and intrigue to it all!”

“Dad was a massive influence on me. Because of his work, he wasn’t around much when I was a kid. He travelled everywhere, China, he worked for Texaco which was based in Houston. But he was still a massive influence. He was a big country boy from Horsham.

“Mum (Judy) did a lot of the raising of my brother and I. I am really close to her to this day. She was a schoolteacher in Adelaide, and quite a successful one at that.

“Both my parents were amazing role models for me.”

Initially, Scotty followed his father’s footsteps, studying geology at uni.

But, it was while working during those uni years, that Scott found his calling.

“I fell in love with tourism. I was working in hotels- pretty big hotels. I was washing the dishes- but I loved it,” he said.

“I loved the cut and thrust of hotels. They are like little communities: The housekeepers are like the mums, the maintenance guys are like the dads, food and beverage are the naughty kids, the front office guys are the glamorous, popular kids, the corporate guys are the snobby private school kids.

“It’s a fascinating community, everyone comes together. It’s a real family. It’s how I met my wife, and many of my best friends.”

Scott says meeting and working with the likes of President Obama, Bon Jovi and AC/DC is amazing, but there is also tremendous joy in meeting the hard working people out of the limelight.

“The behind the scenes guys are amazing people! I’m very fortunate with the experiences I’ve been able to have,” he said.

Scott studied hospitality in Adelaide, before landing a plum senior gig at the iconic Carlton Crest Hotel in Melbourne.

“I learnt the art of hospitality from the general manager of the Carlton Crest Hotel, Frank Delli Chicci. He is a great guy,” he said.

“Every afternoon he would walk down from his office and walk the line with the corporates while they were checking in, asking them how they are.

Some office fun for Scotty from his team. Scott is renowned for his empowering and team-oriented leadership. Picture: SUPPLIED

“This is a hotel with 500 rooms, 10,000 customers. But he knew people by name. It was a real big buzz. This grand old hotel.

“Frank told me, the art of hospitality is welcoming people as if you were welcoming them in to your own home. That was his way. Making people feel at home.”

Scotty’s rise up the ranks continued, as he took a big sales job at Telstra Dome (now Marvel Stadium), before moving to Alice Springs to run the convention centre.

“I’d been working in Melbourne for a few years, and I was ready for a new challenge. The opportunity to work at Lasseters popped up,” he said.

“It invoked all the memories of Pricilla Queen of the Desert. The convention centre had just opened up. I thought, this will be awesome.

“They flew me up. I fell in love overnight. As a team at the convention centre we hosted some great conferences, and really put Alice on the map in the business events arena.”

At Lasseters, Scott met local lady Jenna, and fell in love.

“Jenna is an amazing woman. She has been an amazing support to me. She gave up her job and life in Alice, to move with me,” he said.

“In Adelaide, she was event co-ordinator at the showgrounds, running the Royal Adelaide Show and Big Day Out. Then she left that and moved again with me.

“Jenna comes from a creative family, and really wanted to do floristry. She studied a course in Perth and loved it, and worked at a florists there.

“Then we moved to Darwin, and there weren’t many opportunities in floristry, so she fell in to a government job, and loved it and did very well.

“When we came to Alice, she really wanted to open her own shop. And she did! Wildfire Blooms in Reg Harris Lane.

“It’s an amazing little business. Jenna is very good at it. It’s really well supported by locals.”

The apple of Scott’s eye is his two daughters, Scarlett and Kenzie.

“Scarlett is eight and Kenzie is five. They are beautiful kids. Jenna and I are both very blessed to have them,” he said.

While at the convention centre, Scott was headhunted by international events company, Staging Connections (now Encore), to run their South Australian and Northern Territory operations, from Adelaide.

Scotty and Jenna with their beautiful daughters, Scarlett and Kenzie. Picture: SUPPLIED

Before long, Scott was promoted, and moved to Perth to run Western Australia – along with SA and the NT.

Next career stop was Darwin, as the Director of Business Events with Tourism NT.

Scott then ran the Department of the Chief Minister in the Southern Region for Adam Giles, where he put his shoulder to the wheel to help grow the economy and develop social policy.

This was followed by a role as Executive Director of the Government’s Industry and Economic Development, before returning to Tourism NT as executive general manager of Industry Development.

Scott says the last 12 months of that role were harrowing, as the fallout from the coronavirus took hold.

“We had the strongest growth rates for the country, and Covid came along and dumped on everyone the world over. That came on the back of the bushfires. It just gazumped everyone,” he said.

“We were working with operators who went from hero to zero overnight. People’s businesses were dissolving right in front of them. It was heartbreaking.

“As a team we mobilised, and tried to give an enormous amount of support to businesses. I am really proud of the team. We came up with the tourism voucher scheme, and the marketing team did a brilliant job with that.

“Every other jurisdiction in the country copied our idea. That’s a credit to the team- what little old NT came up with.

“People would say to me, ‘Scott, it saved my business.’

“That’s why I do what I do. To make a real difference to someone’s business. That gives you a real kick.”

Scott Lovett, part of the NT Major Events Board, bringing Parrtjima to Alice. Picture: SUPPLIED

As a result of Scott’s strong leadership through Covid-19, he was again headhunted for promotion.

Since the beginning of the year, Scott has been General Manager of Strategy and Policy within the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade.

“It’s fascinating. They are a team of very talented and smart humans. It’s about building investment and trade networks- relationships that are vital for the NT. That’s across many industries, whether it be seafood, pastoral, the agriculture business area, mining projects,” he said.

“I see a very bright future for the Northern Territory economy. There are new investment opportunities, and a real sense of optimism.”

Scott is on the NT Major Events Board, helping drive attractions like Parrtjima, Red Centre Nats and Bass in the Grass.

He is also on the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board.

“I was there when the chain came down from Uluru. It was a powerful, moving experience- for a good little capitalist like me!

“To stand in the room, while the Chair Sidney James held the chain. It was a such a powerful, emotional moment. It shows the power of culture. It was very grounding.”

Scott is currently studying his Master of Business Administration via correspondence with Deakin Uni in Melbourne.

You get the feeling that as Scott’s career continues to grow, so too will the Northern Territory. We need people with strong minds, and strong hearts. Scott Lovett has both in abundance.