Recent
Projects
Dunira is currently engaged on projects in Scotland
and Ireland, Russia, Slovakia and Lithuania, Laos, Iran and elsewhere.
Clients are heritage organisations and environment agencies, local
authorities, tourist boards and ministries, and regional and international
development agencies, leading travel companies, charities and private
clients. Examples include the Foreign & Commonwealth Office,
Scottish Enterprise, the Prince of Wales’ International Business
Leaders Forum, United Nations Environment Programme, The Association
of British Travel Agents and The Travel Foundation. We have also
submitted evidence to parliamentary inquiries into tourism, foreign
affairs and public ethics.
Examples of recent and ongoing projects include:
Nature-based tourism
Sustainable supply chains
Measuring hotels’ performance
Destination marketing plans
Storytelling and folklore
Consumer education
Training the travel industry
IT solutions for tour operators
The Sustainable Tourism Initiative
Nature-based tourism
A rural tourism strategy for the south of
Scotland
Commissioned by Scottish Enterprise for
its Making Tracks initiative, and working with The Borders Foundation
for Rural Sustainability and market researchers NFO System Three,
Dunira designed a ‘cluster tourism’ marketing
strategy (link to PDF) for nature-based tourism in the south
of Scotland. This involved a survey of tourism sites across the
region and the development of geographic and thematic clusters into
marketable products, all undertaken in conjunction with consumer
research and consultation with a number of stakeholders. This strategy,
which includes a wide range of tourism resources and attractions,
will help to promote greater supply-chain linkages between tourism
suppliers and the communities and environments in which they operate.
Dunira has subsequently applied this methodology successfully in
other countries, including Ireland, Poland and Lebanon. It is relevant
to any emerging tourism destination, especially those that are more
remote or marginalised by central government.
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Sustainable supply chains
A survey of tourism practices
Working with other members of Leeds Tourism Group,
Dunira won a contract from The Travel Foundation to research tourism
supply-chain initiatives. The three-month project identified the
best ways of encouraging suppliers and purchasers to work in a more
responsible and sustainable manner so as to minimise the economic,
environmental and social impacts caused by tourism, particularly
to mass market destinations. The survey covered a wide range of
initiatives throughout the supply chain – from stimulating
local enterprise through local purchasing to supporting improvements
on waste management – and should influence working practices
in the tourism industry. Dunira subsequently built on this research
programme with an economic impact assesment of specific sustainable
tourism development opportunities in the Caribbean.
Measuring hotels’ performance
Evaluating a hotel benchmarking tool
Dunira was commissioned by the International Hotels
Environment Initiative to evaluate a benchmarking tool that had
been designed to measure the environmental and socio-economic performance
of hotels against a range of indicators and provide a foundation
for improvement. The evaluation involved advanced statistical analysis
and consultation with hoteliers in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean,
the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific. We employed trial
applications and assessments, along with questionnaires and structured
interviews to obtain feedback. This process confirmed the soundness
of the content, while also identifying opportunities for the development
and refinement of the tool itself.
Destination marketing plans
Projects currently in development
Dunira has been engaged by a number of public
and private clients to produce feasibility studies and comprehensive
marketing plans and PR strategies. These include product development
plans in a wide range of destinations in the British Isles, Eastern
Europe and the Middle East, and also involve regional cluster and
cross-border product development opportunities, including the British
Isles, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. On every project we are
working closely with specific stakeholders with particular local
knowledge. This body of work builds on our team's experience of
destination marketing, tourism management and sustainable development.
In each destination we engage local and regional government, youth
and community groups, environmental and sporting organisations,
tour operators and accommodation providers to produce an integrated
tourism strategy and development plan.
Storytelling and folklore
Community integration and regeneration through
tourism
Working with storytellers and artists in Scotland
and internationally, Dunira is promoting the use of storytelling
and folklore in tourism as a way of breathing life into cultural
heritage and engaging host communities in the design and delivery
of tourism. This can involve the creation of links between education
and tourism attractions and contribute to the social and economic
regeneration of communities through tourism.
Consumer education
Offering advice for British travellers
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office and The
Travel Foundation commissioned a series of projects to develop consumer
advice for British travellers on sustainable tourism and responsible
behaviour. The resulting Insider's
Guides to a selection of mainstream tourism destinations and
activities were based on consultation with a wide range of local
people and industry experts, to ensure that the content was relevant,
engaging and informative, and that the format would meet the needs
of the travel industry. Dunira assembled together a specialist team
that included experienced researchers and professional copywriters
to ensure that the best results would be achieved. The research
process itself also helped to establish a partnership framework
for destination stakeholders.
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info>>
Training the travel industry
Training in Corporate Social Responsibility
Dunira has worked with Tourism Concern and the
British Government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport
to design and deliver training in corporate social responsibility
(CSR) to the travel industry. Some of this training has been provided
through a seminar programme supported by UK Trade & Investment
for members of The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).
Other training activities include capacity building initiatives
for community groups and revenue management seminars and workshops
for tourism SMEs in Scotland and Ireland, Croatia, Poland and Russia,
Laos, Iran and Lebanon.
IT solutions for tour operators
Revenue management development
After a career as a manager and consultant to
leading tour operators, our managing director has wide experience
of significant IT projects in travel and tourism from design to
implementation, including business requirements gathering, analysis
and process re-engineering. His particular expertise is in designing
and implementing risk and revenue management systems for travel
and tourism companies, and developing associated training components.
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info>>
The Sustainable Tourism Initiative
Developing sustainability in outbound tourism
The Sustainable Tourism Initiative (STI) was established
in 2001 as a multi-stakeholder forum: as well as Dunira Strategy,
the large team involved the British government, non governmental
organisations (NGOs) and operators in the outbound travel industry.
As part of the UK's preparations for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg, the STI’s objective was to develop
the sustainability of outbound tourism. The capacity building process
was managed by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Royal
Institute of International Affairs in London, and initiated a number
of pilot projects. The work of the STI continues, now under the
auspices of The Travel Foundation, a new NGO supported by the British
government and travel industry. Dunira is a founding member of The
Travel Foundation Forum.
More
info>> (link to PDF)
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