Thank you very much for coming to visit us today and discussing with us the ideas for the requirements for the Qualmark certification.  Rachael, Rick and I really appreciated the time you gave us in such a warm, friendly and informative way as we worked through the Qualmark criteria.  We are really looking forward to working with you for our future developments.

Once again thank you very much for your expertise advise.

Kae and Rick Coleman
Hinterland Tours
Bay of Plenty

I have known and worked with Rachael Voyce of Tourism Tactics for almost 2½ years, in my capacity as Managing Director of Waihi Beach Top 10 Holiday Park.

During this time she has worked for our business in a number of roles including, research, product development, strategic planning and implementation, collation of award entry data and presentation, as well as being a sounding board for what we do as a business and where we are headed. She has been actively involved in helping us document and implement our 10-development plan covering all aspects of the business with annual reviews.

Her work is characterised by careful attention to detail, specific goals and outcomes and measuring very carefully results. At times she may be called pedantic in ensuring that ‘all the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted’ to ensure that there is no room for error. ‘Careful planning results in expected outcomes.’

Her ability to work in formulating and implementing both short and long term goals and then developing them further into a strategic plan with documented timelines and clear targets within the framework of resourcing and specific time frames has meant that continuous improvement and development has been achieved.

Ian Smith
Waihi Beach Top 10 Holiday Park
Waihi Beach

In my recent position as Senior Operations Manager at White Island Tours, effectively a general management role, I had the good fortune to work with Rachael Voyce of Tourism Tactics. I was relatively new to tourism and needed someone with a good knowledge of the industry. Rachael gave me great advice and quickly became my sounding board on strategic issues. With her assistance I was able to develop a strategic plan for my company.

Rachael was also instrumental in helping me submit successful entries to both the 2007 and 2008 NZ Tourism Awards. She provided planning and critiquing assistance. I found her excellent to work with. She turned work round quickly and would always go the extra mile to assist me.

I have since, prior to taking up new employment, worked as a fellow consultant with Rachael and have been impressed by what she provides to her clients. She listens, is straight talking and, above all, very focused on delivering work that adds value to an organisation. I suspect she has been on the receiving end of consultants’ reports that fail to do this.

Rachael and I regularly had discussions on what information would really simplify decision-making for the client. From what I observed, her plans and recommendations were always what the client sought. They comprise intelligent analysis of good data, sourced from thorough research. To quote one of her clients, she gives you a “non-fluff” deliverable and something of immediate value.

Anyone thinking of using Rachael services can be assured they will get work of high strategic value. I have no hesitation in recommending her services and, personally, hope I can either use or work alongside her in the future.

Dougal Stewart

Business Development Manager

Manukau Institute of Technology

I would like to thank Tourism Tactics in helping our company develop from a simple concept, to become an established tourism operation.   From our first meeting Rachael sat down with us to get a grasp of what we were trying to create, she worked out what the timeframes were and established what my time commitment would be in order to achieve the goals we had as a business.

One of the key areas for No.8 Farm Tours was the development of our product.  We had an image and experience we wanted to convey to customers but had difficulty defining this.  It was very important to us as a business that we set ourselves apart from similar products in the market.  Rachael and her team helped define what we were about and used this to create a distinct brand story that we are extremely proud of.

In summary Rachael and her thriving company, Tourism Tactics has delivered more than we expected and the project management has been second to none. This has enabled us to leverage our time into other areas of importance.  Overall our experience with Rachael and Tourism Tactics has been excellent and I would fully recommend there services to other Tourism businesses.

Andy and Sarah Somerville
No.8 Farm Tours
www.no.8farmtours.co.nz

We gained approval of a dolphin swimming & watching permit from the Department of Conservation late in December 2007.  We were in awe of how we were going to go about setting up a small business in the tourism sector - in the middle of the season! The i-SITE manager at Tauraga suggested we talk too Rachael Voyce to help us get some ideas.  The meeting with Rachael was set up and attended by ourselves and our daughter.  In our own minds we had a direction we thought was a good way too start off  - after two hours with Rachael we walked out completely shell shocked as the direction Rachael suggested was quite different to ours!   After a team meeting it was decided to take on Rachael and the concept she had suggested to start our business.  After 6 hard working weeks we were ready to launch and had the business name, logo, brochures, website - Rachael was the main driving force keeping everybody to a timeframe. The venture would never have worked without Rachael’s input.  We are truly thankful  for all her hard work and have no hesitation in recommending her to anybody starting a new tourism business venture. We are still working with Rachael as she is always in touch making sure we stay focused.

Paul and Alison Aitken
Dolphin Blue
www.dolphinblue.co.nz

We contacted Rachael Voyce for her expertise with marketing to improve our accommodation business.  Rachael identified the key areas needing attention.  A total rebranding programme was intiated which included building a fantastic new web site as well as marketing us through her contacts in the Tourism Industry.  Rachael’s approach and attention to detail is very professional and we are totally satisfied with the results she has achieved for us.  We recommend Rachael of Tourism Tactics for her friendly and professional manner and getting a job well done.

Hamish & Vanna  McKenzie

Ohiwa Lodge & Day Spa
www.ohiwalodge.co.nz

Rachael Voyce has been employed by the Powderhorn Chateau for the past 2 years as our Sales and Marketing Manager.  In this period she has successfully implemented and maintained our website, set up new contracts with wholesalers and has actively perused new market areas for our business.    We have found with her previous knowledge of the tourism industry to be a valuable tool to marketing our business.    After persuing the wholesale markets Rachael has then followed on to the wedding and conference market of which we are seeing good results.    On a day to day basis Rachael oversees our promotional and advertising requirements within the budget parameters. We feel lucky we have found a person that works so well for our company.  

Annie Scarf

Director

Powderhorn Chateau

www.powderhorn.co.nz

Tom & I really have appreciated your valuable assistance, advice & the material you have given, especially outside the given enterprise consultation time. We have more clarity about this tourism business now, thanks to you.
 

Annette Brons

Tribal Lights

Rotorua

Rachael knows tourism. Rachael knows marketing. She is a contractor that only needs to be briefed once and then delivers what is requested. Rachael project managed our website redevelopment and played a crucial role as the liaison between us as clients and our website developers. She is able to grasp strategic direction and also deliver at the detail end. A rare and valuable combination today. 

Tim Burgess

General Manager

Tourism Bay of Plenty

I have known Rachael for some years.  During this time, I have experienced many of her talents, skills and qualities.

Initially I consulted Rachael when she was a member of Tourism Coromandel staff and found her to be most knowledgeable and helpful.  We employed Rachael on contract to prepare for and accompany me to TRENZ in Christchurch in June 2006. 

In recent times, Rachael has worked with our company to put systems in place to make our workload more manageable.  Her particular expertise is in maximizing opportunities with our website.  Since she has been working on this for us, our website traffic has increased immensely with good results.

Rachael has also set up systems for us to be able to track our clients, advertising, income and outgoings.  We are now able to see where our clients are coming from, where our advertising is and whether it is working.  All of these things were foreign to me but Rachael has seen to it that I understand these systems and keep them working correctly.

I cannot speak highly enough of Rachael’s talents and skills and look forward to continuing having her working with me to keep our business running in the right direction.  I recommend her talents and skills to anyone who needs this sort of expertise.

Rachael was contracted late in 2005 to help set up the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. The HFM Trust was looking for assistance from an experienced project manager who we could be confident would work independently and proactively to get the market up and running. Rachael was exactly the right person.

Over the six months of the market’s establishment phase, Rachael developed efficient and effective operational and financial processes and strong relationships with stall holders and the local council. She worked well with trustees to establish the market and her calm, competence and positive manner have helped the market gain real credibility and contributed significantly to its success. I would not hesitate to recommend her.

Haast River Safari contracted Rachael Voyce of Tourism Tactics in an advisory capacity to compile our New Zealand Tourism Awards entry.  Rachael's excellent communications skills, both oral and written enabled us to work together extremely well - despite being based at opposite ends of the country; with most of our contact taking place over the telephone or by email. 

Her perception, attention to detail and diligence was a defining factor in our business winning the Leisure Activity category - a great achievement for first time entrants; and we'd have no hesitation in recommending her services to any business involved in the tourism industry.

Colleen Monachan
  (formely) Manager - Sales & Marketing/PR
Haast River Safari
Haast

Rachael Voyce has acted in an advisory capacity for us, as a marketing consultant for our small business.  Following Rachael's expert advice we have been able to lift our business to another level with wider exposure to the market.  Rachael has a genuine interest in her clients, she is an excellent communicator, working hard to achieve a positive result.

Rachael Voyce was employed by ATS Pacific New Zealand to prepare two tourism/business awards submissions.

Rachael worked diligently and independently on the submissions, moulding information provided by ATS Pacific into two documents.  One submission for the Manukau Business Awards subsequently became a finalist and won the category "Excellence in Tourism Visitor Services".  The other submission for the New Zealand Tourism Awards became an Awards nominee and won the category "Distribution".

I have found Rachael excellent to work with.  I can thoroughly recommend her and would have no hesitation employing her for similar work in the future. 

Stuart Neels
Managing Director
ATS Pacific New Zealand

he Pohutukawa Festival runs over 2 weeks, with over 50 events in 7 different Coromandel Peninsula towns.  As well as volunteering to be a member of the organising committee, we have contracted Rachael to specifically manage some of the events.  It has been fantastic having someone with a strategic head and great ideas involved each year and  I really don't know what we would have done without her!   

Rachael  has always gone well beyond the call of duty to make sure whatever she is organising runs like clockwork.  You can be reassured that, if Rachael is looking after an event for you, it will be in excellent hands.

n June 2002, Tourism New Zealand introduced online training for travel agents in Australia.  The modules were planned, written and developed by Rachael Voyce to allow travel sellers to learn in their own time, at their own pace, and at their own place.

Online training was a significant technical development for Tourism New Zealand and has proved to be a very successful one. 

The Australian success has encouraged Tourism New Zealand to introduce the modules to all it's international markets, and only minor updating work was required to module content to allow for a global roll out.  

The initial scoping of the Australian project by Rachel was extremely sound and has allowed an almost seamless introduction of in-depth destination content to the UK, India, UAE, Singapore and North America to date, allowing Tourism New Zealand to further it's training objectives in many countries.