A FRAMEWORK FOR TOURISM CONSULTING

Global tourism is now generally recognized as one of the largest industries in the world and one of the most significant sources of employment and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Tourism particularly benefits the economies of developing countries, where most of the sector’s tourism jobs and businesses are being created. When done sustainably, tourism development can be an effective tool for stimulating economic growth, alleviating poverty, conserving biodiversity, preserving culture and traditions, and creating employment opportunities for local communities.

Range of Consulting Services

1. Strategic Planning : Strategic planning is a comprehensive process for determining what a business or destination should become and the steps needed to achieve that goal.

• Destination Assessments
• Tourism Master Plans
• Land Use Planning & Ecolodge Architecture
• Marketing Strategies
• Business Planning
• Tourism Conservation Planning

2. Tourism Development

• Destination Management
• Workforce Development
• Investment Promotion
• Tourism & Business Product Development
• Circuit & Route Development
• Measuring Tourism Impacts
• Climate Change & Tourism
• Agriculture & Tourism
• Crafts & Tourism

3. Tourism Management & Operations: Tourism is a people-oriented industry with the potential of providing jobs and income needed to revitalize local economies particularly in developing countries. A major barrier to achieving the full potential of many destinations is a lack sufficient training options to build the capacity of their tourism professionals. A trained workforce with both theoretical and practical knowledge is necessary to provide service with the level of quality needed to attract travellers and properly develop a destination.

• Guide training
• Tourism Services Training
• Tourism Information Center Management
• Sustainability Training
• Marketing Training

4. Tourism Partnerships: Partnerships leverage the tangible and intangible assets of all partners to create mutually beneficial outcomes. In tourism, stakeholders span across the planet, from the tourist and outbound operator in a source country all the way to the front-line communities, farmers and local governments at the tourism destination. Linking such a broad-array of interests requires maintaining well-nurtured relationships and an understanding of divergent yet symbiotic objectives. Partnerships leverage financial, technical expertise and promotional benefits from private and government partners in exchange for improvement in stakeholder relations, cause-marketing and improved product and service delivery. These exchanges result in such outcomes as increased sales, revenue and jobs; improved visitor experiences, alternative incomes for front-line communities; decreased levels of conservation threats in areas of high biodiversity; diversified production and increased profits for small farmers; and overall improve sustainability of tourism destinations around the world.

• Geotourism
• Business Approach to Conservation
• Destination Marketing Partnership Program

5. Tourism Marketing: With global international tourist arrivals reaching one billion each year, and growth only expected to increase, opportunities in the tourism industry are endless. Yet many destinations and tourism businesses fail to achieve success. Why are so many destinations struggling in a climate that is ripe for tourism? Marketing is a major part of the problem, but it is also an integral part of the solution. Today’s traveller can virtually tour destinations at the touch of a finger, communicate with distant islands on their way to the office and plan customized adventures through simple online platforms. By failing to connect with and captivate this virtual audience, many tourism enterprises are fighting an uphill battle. Without the correct combination of tourism marketing strategies, tools, and technology, your travel business will not able to find potential clients, and even more importantly, those potential clients will not be able to find you. A successful tourism business requires a brand that speaks to its target markets, content that successfully generates potential clients and a level of service that listens to customers’ demands, all within ever diminishing budget constraints. Inbound marketing in contrast to outbound marketing (such as paid online advertisements or direct mailings) is based on the concept of making your business easy to find and drawing customers to your website through inspiring content.

• Branding
• Website Development and Analytics
• Travel Trade Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Media & Public Relations
• Integrated Marketing Program

For additional information, please contact AALEP Secretariat