Destination Development

What is a destination?

• The end point of a journey; a location to which one travels. “Reaching a destination”, typically considered as attaining a goal. A refuge for the traveler.

• The organizations we work with may be countries, a nation or a single state; often a city, an island and even remote, unique natural assets, wilderness areas or significant ancient sites.

Tourism- The ultimate “Think Global, Act Local” industry.

With 35 years of management and operational experience within the tourism industry, working alongside thought-leaders and acclaimed tourism and development consultancies in tourism and development, hundreds of the world’s leading sustainable destinations, hotels, and tourism companies have been scrutinized and assessed.

We understand there is a clear route to achieving successful, sustainable and integrated tourism development. From the creation of new product categories to examples of leadership in local community involvement, we have and still are setting new standards in tourism and hospitality development.

By separating information and data from ‘noise’, successful destinations embrace clear processes and standards, create quality hospitality developments, relevant tourism products and commercially sustainable attractions, supporting and protecting natural environments.

Under COVID-19 in 2020 (and through many crises of the past 30 years) every destination has felt the impact and realized the true value of their tourism industry. Global travel will continue to grow beyond 2020, and again achieve the +1.25 billion international tourists crossing the globe annually in the future. How we proceed from here, protecting against the excessive demands on precious natural resources and ‘over-tourism’ is up to local governments, communities and investors.

Those destinations responding to Climate Change and UN Sustainable Development goals, (and the post-COVID era), will succeed; those that don’t will continue to suffer from a downward spiral in revenues, popularity and quality environments.

Economics interdependencies of globalisation mean few societies and locations can escape tourism as a fundamental building-block of commercial and entrepreneurial activity, a driver of development and employment. However most have realized it is not about tourism numbers, but the value of the tourists’ experience that will dictate the results sustainably.

The challenges for tourism into the future are not only those of marketing, branding or developing attractions to increase visitor numbers and GDP growth; but rather one of making tourism growth sustainable within the natural and developed environments of a destination. Once reduced to an overcrowded, under-serviced, short-lived victim of its own success, or when local communities see no benefits from tourism as revenues are exported or local resources are channeled into tourism developments at their expense, then tourism and tourists are at odds with the community.

Economists’ tendency to segregate travelers by their age, behavior or income has value; but world travelers are increasingly aware of their own impacts, both their C-footprints, the communities they impact, but also the benefits they bring to a destination. Travelers increasingly expect the destinations they chose and the companies they use to be responsibly, sustainably and ethically managed to high standards.

Achieving balance in the development of tourism is complex: Each destination has a unique set of constraints and circumstances, a history and cultural, and a range of natural assets with finite resources, all of which need to be considered and deployed. History shows this is only successful when considered through the lens of sustainability and all this means.