Dr Wray led a process of change for Eurobodalla tourism. Working collaboratively with Council, industry stakeholders and State government she successfully delivered a strong strategic framework to grow the visitor economy. The framework saw the successful creation of a new enduring brand “All Kinds of Natural”, a focus on defining the destination’s key target markets, an Event Strategy and a strong focus for developing nature based tourism product. Because of her strategic work and advice Eurobodalla Tourism is in a strong position to lead the recovery efforts of the tourism industry after the recent catastrophic bushfire season.
Narooma Oyster Festival Limited was very fortunate to engage Dr Wray to assist our new tourism and events company to set its strategic direction for the next 5 years. Dr Wray’s strategic insights and extensive experience in destination planning, tourism and events helped the planning process enormously and provided Directors with a broad understanding of the companies opportunities and a clear direction on how we would achieve our objectives over the next five years. Dr Wray’s style is professional, relaxed, open and thoughtful and that helped all directors to participate fully. The final strategic plan was delivered promptly and was well received. Dr Wray continues to be a great sounding board and we appreciate her on-going strategic advice and feedback.
In short, Meredith is a joy to work with. Her tourism research, planning expertise and advertising background makes her one of the few consultants who truly understands how to establish a clear destination brand strategy and positioning story. More importantly, Meredith knows how to work with agencies to deliver comms plans that break through the cluttered regional tourism market.
The Tablelands Destination Development Plan was developed by Meredith in collaboration with a Project Steering Committee to create a roadmap to guide the collaborative work of local, regional and state tourism stakeholders to grow, develop and promote the Tablelands region and its towns and villages as a distinct new, appealing and competitive tourism region in NSW. Meredith continues to provide strategic advice to inform the implementation of this Plan including assisting the Committee to establish an agreed collaborative delivery framework across local, regional and state/territory levels and creating a clear brand identity and positioning story for the region.
Meredith Wray worked with Claire Ellis to develop the Port Macquarie Hastings Destination Management Plan to provide strategic direction for Council and tourism industry stakeholders for the sustainable management, development and marketing of tourism across Port Macquarie Hastings to 2024. The DMP process involved evidence-based research and consultation with over 90 tourism stakeholders. The final Plan identifies strategies to strengthen destination management initiatives and sharpen the region’s points of difference to further develop and promote tourism experiences to sustainably grow the local visitor economy. A Destination Action Plan details actions against four Strategic Priorities to provide a solid working plan for Council, industry and other stakeholders to implement cooperatively over the next five years.
I’ve always found Meredith’s approach to the many projects we have worked on together to be innovative and her output both informative and insightful. She understands tourism across policy, planning, development and marketing. She has great analytical brain and she is very collaborative which makes working with her productive and enjoyable. She continues to act as sounding board for the development of the ‘v Postcard’ Visiting Friends and Relatives community platform.
The Coffs Coast Tourism Strategic Plan presented some unique challenges. It included coverage of two distinct and quite different destinations that market under the Coffs Coast brand, namely – Coffs Harbour City Council and Bellingen Shire Council…Wray Consulting brought together a team of experts and produced an innovative plan which addressed the key challenges and proposed unique solutions to enable a positive future for the destination. The work involved extensive community and industry consultation… Dr Wray presented regularly to the Destination Coffs Coast Management Committee and did so in a highly professional and engaging way. Her team delivered above and beyond what the brief required and this represented strong value for money for both Councils. I would highly recommend Dr Meredith Wray for any similar projects.
Australian Sustainable Tourism academic Dr Meredith Wray, Director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, Australia made an excellent contribution to the Indian Ocean Rim Association experts meeting on the first day, with her presentation on sustainable cruise tourism. This is a subject of great interest to the Indian Ocean Island States in terms of developing new markets of their “Blue economy”.
Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC) and its Director of Research, Professor David Simmons would like to express sincere thanks for your hard work and excellent contribution to research enhancing the environmental, economic and social sustainability of tourism in Australia.