Creating Vibrant, Sustainable Communities

Penny delivers high quality and insightful advice to clients that focusses on their goals while considering the needs of their communities and the planet. She is an engaging communicator who is knowledgeable and experienced across a range of disciplines from tourism to community development to conservation.

Penny has an extraordinary ability to think through complex issues and determine realistic and achievable solutions. She frequently manages complicated stakeholder relationships to realise mutual agreement. She is a delight to work with.

With her deep industry knowledge, work ethic and excellent organisational skills, Penny is quite simply one of the best tourism planners and consultants I’ve had the pleasure to work with.

Penny is engaging and collaborative and has an impressive depth of experience in the tourism sector. Applying her knowledge and experience to every engagement, she also challenges the norm and looks for creative ways to improve and build sustainable and memorable experiences for visitors and providers alike. Despite her depth of experience, Penny doesn’t just sit back and rely on it, she is constantly researching and learning new ideas and approaches and seeks to improve experiences and destinations with every engagement. She is able to span the strategic and operational aspects of tourism and has a knack for getting to the core or heart of a problem or issue. Penny has a great sense of humour and is a joy to work with.

Townsville Enterprise worked with Penny and her team in delivering a masterplan for one of our signature tourism precincts. Penny’s wealth of knowledge, global insights and understanding of the industry was exceptional, she was well respected and regarded in her approach to stakeholder and community engagement and has a genuine interest and passion in supporting her clients and the communities she works with. Penny was fantastic to work with and went above all expectations to ensure that the project delivered the best outcomes for all involved.

I have had the privilege of working with Penny as the lead consultant for TRC Tourism, the contractor for the development of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework and the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Standard. These two policy instruments are central to the transformation of Pacific tourism as we navigate our way out of the COVID-19 pandemic into a resilient, prosperous and inclusive future. Through these projects, I have developed deep trust and respect for Penny for she has shown time and time again that she has her clients and the Pacific’s interest at heart. As a contract manager, working with Penny in addressing complex challenges has been seamless which is testament to Penny’s vast professional experience in tourism.

We worked with Penny Spoelder on a series of projects supporting the World Heritage listing of the Central Victorian Goldfields. Penny has an excellent knowledge and understanding of the major drivers and forces operating in the tourism and visitor sectors. She provides clear, very well-articulated and trusted advice, sound strategic direction and written material on each project she works on. Penny’s depth of experience and skill set have been clearly demonstrated by her understanding of what we need to deliver our complex and multi-stakeholder project and her capacity to support us in achieving our goals. Importantly Penny delivers a quality product within an agreed timeframe. It has been a pleasure to work with Penny and to benefit from her extensive experience and capacity to add value to a wide range of projects.