Eurobodalla Destination Action Plan 2018 to 2021

Meredith was initially engaged by Council to prepare the Eurobodalla DMP 2011 to 2020. Internal staffing and resourcing changes within Council from 2011 to 2015 had resulted in parts of the DMP not being implemented. The need for a review of DMP was identified by Council to identify and prioritise future opportunities to deliver an achievable four-year tourism action plan for tourism to 2021 to be delivered in cooperation with the local industry.

Meredith was engaged in 2016 to undertake the DMP review that first involved preparing a Tourism Sector Analysis report that examined trends in Australian domestic and international tourism, a review of the regional and local tourism context relevant to Eurobodalla Shire, and identifying important issues, challenges and opportunities that may impede or drive the growth and development of tourism to inform Council’s broader Eurobodalla Economic Growth and Development Strategy.

From this, the DMP Review Process involved establishing a Council and industry steering committee to guide the review process, a desk top review of the original DMP’s strategies and other relevant Council plans and reports to determine what had been implemented and achieved to date. The stakeholder engagement process involved consultation meetings with Council’s Executive Leadership Team and staff involved in tourism marketing, visitor information services and events; interviews with representatives of stakeholder organisations external to Eurobodalla including DNSW and NPWS; facilitation of workshop sessions with tourism and business and advisory committees to negotiate a collaborative way forward for tourism; a briefing session with Council; and consultation with Council’s Citizen Jury.

Findings of the review process were used to develop a four-year Eurobodalla Destination Action Plan 2018 to 2021 that identifies realistic and evidence-based priorities and associated actions to guide the management, development and marketing of tourism with a bold aim to increase visitation and visitor expenditure to the destination region by 25% by 2021.