Build A Better Tourism Business

Jason Schroeder - Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival

“We loved the process that combined an ambitious vision with an actionable plan.”

That’s where we come in.

Leveraging our success in tourism development, we help tourism businesses make real progress towards a better future through 3 steps:

  1. Strategy: define where you’ll play and how you’ll win

  2. Plan: determine your destination and the high impact actions that will get you there

  3. Execution: grow and build your business

Building a tourism business that is purposeful & profitable, now and in the future is challenging

Why make the time for tourism design?

Because a great tourism experience, product or service alone won’t build you a better business.

  • Every segment of the tourism sector has a leading player.

  • No matter the economy, you will always find one experience that is performing well.

  • The one that’s dominating its target market.

  • That greatness comes from an ability to deliver remarkable experiences AND operate a high-performing business.

What we cover

We turned the guesswork of building a smarter tourism business into a process

01 Foundations

  • Vision: To make real progress you need to define where you want to go.

  • This will guide the direction of your business right now and ensure the actions you’re taking align with the future you want.

02 Purpose

  • Explore why your business exists beyond just making money.

  • This is what drives your company to make real impact, attract and retain the best people as well as tell a great story and add to your bottom line.

03 Values

  • Create a set of vital and timeless guiding principles for your company.

  • This helps with decision-making as you always have a foundation to come back to.

04 Niche

  • Define what you are good at, what comes easy to you and what you get paid well for.

  • When these 3 elements come together everything becomes easier and clearer on the changes you need to make.

05 Three-Year Picture

  • What do you want your business to look like in 3 years?

  • This simple picture will guide annual planning.

06 One Year Plan

  • What actions are you going to take in the next 1 year that align with your vision?

  • We focus on prioritising goals and helping you follow through on them.

07 Scorecard

  • Define the key numbers to track and ensure progress.

  • Using this data over time will show you where results are coming from and become invaluable to your business.

08 Destination Alignment

  • Unpack how your business aligns with the destination for greater promotional opportunities.

  • Working with your regional tourism organisation can have a high impact on your business with low resource - we just need to find the alignment and let them know!

09 Other

  • Some businesses have other requirements that are really important and we need to factor them in.

  • We customise elements of the plan to make sure everything is covered.

Debbie Downs - CEO Otago University Students Association

“It only took 3 sessions but it would have taken us a year to do on our own.”

(re)Design Your Business

Smart design creates better business and thriving destinations

FAQs

    • A professional business that creates increasing value for its owner

    • Strategy maximises value without relying on visitor volume

    • A plan that gives confidence in the future and that staff want to be a part of

    • Operations that deliver on business goals

    • Systems are in place that save time

    • Internal projects are on track that keep improving business productivity

    • The business makes significant progress each year

  • If you begin this process and decide it’s not for you within the first week, you won’t be invoiced for work done to date and you can keep all material - no questions asked.

    If you find yourself unsatisfied with the results at any stage of our journey together, simply pause or cancel.

  • There are three important points we need to make about cost:

    1. Our guarantee: If after the first session you don't want to continue there will be no payment required and you can keep all the material.

    2. We discuss and agree on pricing depending on what will work best for you and when we know the value we can bring.

    3. We use either fixed pricing or hourly rates depending on which service you choose.

  • The timeframe varies between businesses but we often see results from the very beginning.

    The process consists of 2 - 4 sessions that we spread out between 2 - 4 weeks depending on your availability.

  • Planning can start at any time and we set dates to work towards from whenever we start.

    90 day blocks work best when you want to make progress - it creates focus and speed.

  • When it comes to executing day to day activities, well built systems can open up huge new opportunities for any size business to:

    • Consistently improve results

    • Innovate when necessary

    • Free up time

  • Too often, businesses get put through complicated processes, lay out detailed structures that increase complexity.

    We’re not too fussed about that style and prefer to create the most simple structure that will improve your business.

    This involves stripping things back just as much as adding value from the process and the tools we use.

    Unlike most consultants who want to take a lot of time (while getting paid) we’re all about progress from day one.

  • We often work digitally through a combination of asynchronous project management tools and video calls.

  • This isn’t a plan you do once and file away until next year - it’s a sustainable system to ensure your business makes ongoing progress.

    We use the EOS process (eosworldwide.com/eos-model) as a foundation and implement the right aspects into your tourism business for the best results.

We’re on a mission to build better businesses and thriving destinations through smarter tourism design

Ready to implement Tourism x Design at your business?