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About The Journey

We specialise in tourism destination management, planning and marketing.  We assist tourism destinations in making most of their potential by drawing on our experience,  knowledge and creativity. Since 2005 The Journey has conducted close on 100 assigments in more than 30 destinations, both as sole provider and in association with our partners.  Our clients include major international agencies (UNWTO, UNDP, World Bank, USAID, EU, DFID, etc.), regional tourism organizations, national Tourism Ministries, local municipalities, private operators, etc.

The Journey offers high level, personalised service delivered by experienced and senior tourism professionals.  We are accessible to our clients at all times and pride ourselves in the quality of our work.

Dr Mike Fabricius, Managing Director

Dr Mike Fabricius, Managing Director Photo

Mike Fabricius is an experienced tourism strategist, policy analyst and marketer who has played a leadership role in the successful development of the South African tourism industry and has been consulting at an international level since 2005. He is a leading tourism destination specialist who has worked extensively in the South Africa, rest of Africa, Middle East and Asia. Mike qualified as an urban planner and was appointed Director of the Insititute for Planning Research at the Nelson Mandela Metropilitan University, where he became involved in tourism planning and marketing.   After occupying various senior management positions in South Africa's tourism industry, (among others Director Tourism Development for SA Tourism; Head: Tourism Branch, Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, CEO: Western Cape Tourism Board) Mike established The Journey, an independent tourism advisory and consultancy practice in 2004.  Since then he has managed and executed more than 120 assignments across 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.

He regularly participates in missions for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Tourism Ministries and other international development agencies (World Bank, IFC, USAID, UNDP, EU, AFDB, RETOSA, SNV, etc.) and has taught courses on Tourism Policy and Marketing Strategy for Tourism Managers in many destinations across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Recent projects include being team leader for developing a marketing strategy and brand for Ethiopia, team leader for formulating Mozambique’s national strategic tourism plan, strategic advice for the development of various circuits in India, formulating a tourism marketing strategy for Nepal, devising and implementing a Visitor Information Services Strategy for Gauteng Tourism and various others. 

Dr Fabricius is Editorial Board member of the international Journal of Sustainable Tourism and is a regular speaker at tourism seminars, conferences and workshops.  His qualifications include BA, BA(hons, MA, PhD and MBA. He has received various academic and business related awards and was invited to have his profile included in the Who's Who in Southern Africa. He was awarded the University of South Africa Council Medal for the best MBA course student for his dissertation "Competitive Strategies for Tourism Destinations."

Associate Companies

Trout and Partners Positioning Strategists  Photo

Trout and Partners Positioning Strategists

The Journey is a partner of Trout and Partners the consulting firm founded by Jack Trout, who is recognized as the world's foremost marketing strategist. He is responsible for the freshest ideas in marketing in the last twenty years and his concept of Positioning has become the world's #1 business strategy. Together with other talented consultants, Mr. Trout has created an international network of consultant boutiques which offer preeminent skills and hands-on experience in the implementation of Positioning strategies.

Associate Specialists

Dr Anna Spenceley, Sustainable Tourism Specialist Photo

Dr Anna Spenceley, Sustainable Tourism Specialist

Dr Anna Spenceley is a tourism consultant focusing on sustainable tourism based in South Africa.  In particular, she works in areas of high biodiversity in developing countries.  Anna is Chair of the IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group, a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Johannesburg, and sits on the editorial teams of several journals including the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.  She is also the editor of the book "Responsible Tourism: Critical issues for Conservation and Development" and also co-editor of "Evolution and Innovation in Wildlife Conservation".

Peter Fabricius, eTourism Specialist Photo

Peter Fabricius, eTourism Specialist

 

Peter Fabricius is a digital marketing consultant and founding partner at Springnest, an online marketing platform, crafted for the travel and tourism industry.  He has lead numerous online marketing and training assignments in Africa and Asia (including South Asia, South East Asia and Indonesia), and has extensive experience in the coaching and training of tourism SME's and organisations.  Peter holds a BTECH Degree in Tourism Management, as well as a qualification in digital design.

 

Natalia Rosa, Marketing Implementation Specialist Photo

Natalia Rosa, Marketing Implementation Specialist

Natalia Rosa specialises in assisting travel and tourism companies and destination marketing practitioners to become travel marketing experts.  She is a passionate follower of online marketing, social media, retail travel, inbound tourism and publishing. Natalia has editing, writing and management experience in the content generation, online marketing, social media and publishing fields, has completed an online marketing diploma with University of Stellenbosch, Honours in Journalism and Media Studies and Masters in Publishing with specialisation in online publishing field cum laude.

Richard Smith, Market Research Specialist Photo

Richard Smith, Market Research Specialist

Richard Smith has over 25 years experience working with tourism destinations.  He has worked as both a destination practitioner (in Tourist Boards and Local Government) and a consultant.  He specialises in tourism research, MICE research, and destination strategy development and action planning.  As a consultant he has undertaken over a hundred market research projects among destinations, tourism operators, and consumers, and developed strategies for a range of destinations.  He is a graduate of Edinburgh and Surrey Universities with qualifications in Geography, Tourism Management and Market Research