We help travel brands, destinations and communities design tourism products that both provide travelers with an immersive experience and benefit the local community and environment. This two-way impact from product development is accomplished through our approach that works closely with local stakeholders to understand and surface the unique cultural, culinary and natural strengths — or experience “ingredients” — of a place that local people want to share with visitors. Then, we leverage market research and travel trends to create travel experiences that highlight these local strengths through commercially viable tourism products that appeal to both independent and small group travelers and tour companies.
We specialize in adventure, cultural, culinary, community, social enterprise and sustainable tourism product development with a focus on helping regional or rural destinations design their own unique and differentiated products that complement vs. compete with other regions. The goal: to attract travelers to visit, and for longer stays, by engaging them with these local travel experiences offered by local providers so that tourism money stays local and invests back into the community.
You can see how our product development in regional destinations in Kyrgyzstan, including the remote Alay Region, resulted not not only an increase in the number of visitors, but also in average stay and spend.
Our product development advisory and services include: stakeholder engagement, rapid tourism product ideation and design, beta testing frameworks and product iteration, product development training for destinations and small businesses, packaging and marketing strategies, and creating market linkages.
In other words, take-to-market tourism product implementation with a focus on sustainable tourism and community-driven product development to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive ones.
Working with us, you'll be surprised by what your team can achieve in so little time. And how the community and local stakeholders will be engaged in the whole process.
Stakeholder engagement
Market research & trends
Target market segmentation
Market linkages and promotion
Tourism product design
Beta testing and iteration
Product incubators
Training & skills development
You can learn more about our different tourism product development projects below.
“I had the opportunity to work with Dan and Audrey in their role of experts consultants to evaluate, consolidate and improve upon an ecotourism product development and marketing methodology. A number of things impressed me: their ability to synthesize complex technical issues and processes into clear action-oriented language that multiple stakeholders can understand and apply. They bring a market-oriented approach to ecotourism development, while being attentive to conservation, sustainability and greenwashing issues.”
“During their first 4-day visit my eyes were opened to the potential of the city. They helped us as a DMO see our destination in a completely different way — not only as a jumping off point to trekking routes, but as a destination with rich multicultural aspects, which had hidden opportunities to develop new trending tourism products. Now there are more than eight unique new products that highlight uniqueness and cultural heritage of our destination.”
“Understanding consumer trends in global travel and adventure tourism, these two consultants successfully led beneficiary stakeholders to introduce over 20 new experiential tour offerings of relevance to incoming travelers. Results have been nothing short of miraculous, particularly in the time-frames allotted for this given work. Supported destinations have seen upticks of upward of 50% additional incoming travelers, many of whom were not affiliated or cognizant of those locations prior to interventions.”
“Planeterra highly appreciated the assessment work Dan and Audrey supported us with in Australia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Madagascar. They were both quick to provide constructive and thorough feedback, recommendations on leading organizations and non-profits, and helped with our capacity to be able to conduct on-site needs assessments and analyze non-profit behaviours.”
Featured Product Development Projects
Regional Tourism Product and Route Development
Advisory on regional tourism product development and thematic route packaging aligned with adventure and cultural travel trends. Development, positioning and online marketing of cycling and hiking routes in Moldova connecting rural communities, guest houses and wineries for regional tourism development. Project at a Glance: Project Name: Moldova Competitiveness Transition ActivityCountry:…
Community Tourism Marketing and Positioning
Positioning, storytelling and evaluation of Planeterra Foundation community tourism projects and social enterprise partners in Tanzania, Brazil, Australia, India, Peru, Bali, Nepal, Madagascar, and other countries. Feedback on new community tourism tour products to improve traveler experience and connection to local people. Positioning of G Adventures' social enterprise model, including…
Ecotourism Product Development Methodology and Manual
Assessment and documentation of DestiMED methodology for the MEET Network of Mediterranean protected areas to develop the MEET Model and create a practical manual for public-private ecotourism product and destination development. The MEET Manual provides protected area managers and local tour operators with a practical way pathway using the MEET…
Alay Region Marketing Strategy and Product Assessment
Marketing strategy and implementation guidance for the Alay Region in southern Kyrgyzstan. Analysis of market segmentation, adventure travel trends, tourism supply chain, existing tourism products, promotion and online assets. Developed brand positioning and recommendations for new product development aligned with adventure travel trends that incorporate cultural and culinary experiences. Assessment…
Osh, Kyrgyzstan: Destination Development, Positioning and Products
Full destination assessment of local cultural, historical and culinary assets in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Worked with Osh DMO and local stakeholders to develop a destination and marketing strategy and positioning Osh as a cultural and culinary crossroads, drawing from its importance and role along the Silk Road. Results: new destination branding,…
Regional Cultural Tourism Strategy
Destination assessment of existing and potential tourism products, travel market segmentation and value chain in the South Shore region of Lake Issyk-Kul. Drafted a regional destination plan, marketing strategy, product development plan. Created website aligned with leading adventure and cultural travel trends. Funded by USAID Business Growth Initiative (BGI).
Other Services
Get in touch!
Tell us about the project you have in mind and how we might be able to help you achieve your goals. Then the magic begins.