Fiona Merida

MASTER REEF GUIDES, GBRMPA

Fiona Merida is breaking down barriers in her role running the Master Reef Guide program for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Tourism and Events Queensland and the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators. As a former tour guide and marine biologist , Fiona saw a huge opportunity to enhance the experience for visitors to the Great Barrier Reef through sophisticated and memorable guiding and interpretation. Master Reef Guides is a training and leadership programme to assist guides and other staff along the Great Barrier Reef to deepen their knowledge and experience.

Feed the mind

Master Reef Guides focus is on the delivery of best practice interpretation, master story-telling and experience delivery to connect with and inspire visitors. Fiona encourages operators to look at their own guest surveys, questionnaires and feedback and use those insights to raise the quality of interpretation and experience.

“You’ll learn where you are having an impact, what is memorable for your guests – aspects you might be undercooking.”

Care for the environment

Fiona’s vision is that tourism is only a benefit to the health and protection of the Reef.

”It has long been proven that people will protect what they know – and know what they experience. If we strive to connect each guest with the Great Barrier Reef through our guiding and interpretation, then they can be inspired to be make a difference to the future health of not only the Reef but also our planet.”

Promote humanity

A foundation of the program is acknowledgement that people are individuals and they learn better from like minded individuals with whom they can forge a greater connection. Master Reef Guides include women and men aged from 19 to 60, from 11 countries and a range of languages. This enables guests to hear messages from someone they can relate to. This breadth of guides also broadens the space for different voices and experiences to share their knowledge and passion for the wonders of the Reef.

“Different people resonate with different people. Master Reef Guides include many unique and different individuals which gives people the opportunity to hear a message from someone that they relate to. That was a really big driver for me, as well as opening the space for other voices.”