23 Jul 2019

Blue Mountains Visitor User-Pays Strategy

Blue Mountains City Council – 2017

Stafford Strategy developed a Visitor User-Pays Strategy for the Blue Mountains, which is one of NSW’s most visited tourist destinations. The purpose of the Strategy was to assess the potential (via cost benefit analysis) to introduce a variety of visitor user fees including parking, camping, toilet and potential industry operator fees. The need was seen for additional income streams to address the challenge which the Council faces of growing visitor demand, combined with increasingly high maintenance requirements at key tourist sites and the lack of adequate budget to maintain sites to a consistent standard.

23 Jul 2019

Scone Aviation Visitor Attraction Business Case

Upper Hunter Shire Council — 2017

Stafford Strategy was commissioned to develop a Business Case, on behalf of the Upper Hunter Shire Council, to seek grant funding from the NSW Regional Growth Fund to construct an Aviation Visitor Attraction and supporting aerodrome infrastructure at the Scone Regional Airport. The Business Case identified the need to stimulate the visitor economy and included a comprehensive cost-benefit assessment demonstrating the financial viability of the attraction.

23 Jul 2019

Wodonga Gallery & Library Feasibility Study

Wodonga City Council – 2017/18

Stafford Strategy was commissioned by Wodonga City Council (Council) to undertake a feasibility study for the redevelopment of the Wodonga Gallery and Wodonga Library. The purpose of the project is to examine the feasibility of a new, combined facility in the community cultural precinct in order to strengthen Wodonga’s economic and social capacity and increase visitation to the area.

23 Jul 2019

Jabiru Business Case

Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of the Chief Minister – 2018

Stafford Strategy was commissioned to develop a business case that: identifies appropriate strategies for developing the tourism industry at the township of Jabiru (NT), with flow on benefits for Kakadu National Park and, in a broader sense, Darwin; offers mechanisms for improving the town and its residential components, educational and related infrastructure benefits and which offer environmental best practice solutions for sustainability; and includes design concepts for a Jabiru Lake tourism precinct, so that the area is transformed into a highly attractive and unique visitor destination in its own right.

23 Jul 2019

Great Ocean Road Marketing, Concept Plan & Business Case

Surf Coast Shire – 2018

Stafford Strategy developed a Marketing, Concept Plan and Business Case for a Great Ocean Road experience. The purpose of the project was to define the feasibility of introducing a major visitor experience in Torquay to: reframe the Great Ocean Road visitor journey to an immersive experience; and to transform Torquay to a ‘must do’ destination to mark the Eastern beginning of the Great Ocean Road.

23 Jul 2019

Walking the Painkalac Concept and Feasibility Plan

Surf Coast Shire – 2018

Stafford was engaged by Surf Coast Shire Council to undertake a concept and feasibility plan for the development of walking trail experiences within the Painkalac Valley (the Painkalac) at Aireys Inlet. The Plan was developed to support a variety of recreational and economic benefits and noting the need to try and find collective support from a variety of community organisations, local and State Government organisations and other stakeholder groups.

29 May 2015

Tourism Benchmarking Study: Sydney & Other World Cities

The Group undertook a tourism and visitor comparative benchmarking study to create a series of key performance indicators (KPIs) to compare Sydney with a number of global cities. Cities Sydney was benchmarked against included New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Vancouver, Melbourne and Brisbane.

29 May 2015

Tracking the Economic Importance of Tourism to the Toowoomba & Golden West Region

With scrutiny of Council budgets requiring accurate and compelling justification of the importance of tourism, Toowoomba Golden West Tourism commissioned The Stafford Group to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the value of tourism across the region. This study has been used to support ongoing and higher Council funding of tourism throughout the region by 6 local Councils.

29 May 2015

Tonga Tourism Investment and Development Strategy

The Group was commissioned by Tonga Tourism to undertake the development of a Tourism Investment and Development Strategy and undertake an Implementation Program to help facilitate investment into new and existing tourism product.

As part of the assessment, The Group developed a detailed comparative benchmarking matrix which highlighted how Tonga is performing against competitor destinations throughout the South Pacific. Performance measures included brand awareness, visitor numbers, yield, length of stay, cruise ship numbers, level of investment, hotel room capacity (including hotel quality assessment) etc. The assessment also looked at the different consumer perceptions of each of the competitor destinations brands and how this is impacted by advertising and promotion, product development etc.

The Strategy also investigated current barriers to investment in Tonga, challenges with Government rules and regulations (particularly surrounding land ownership) and branding challenges associated with the recent MA60 flight grounding.

To ensure the sustainability and acceptance of the Strategy, the project team met with over 80 stakeholders from the various island groups in Tonga to discuss their perceptions on current challenges and potential opportunities that exist.