Transform Your Business And Carve Out Your Niche Through Positive Impact

What is this thing called “positive impact tourism”? Is it really anything special? It’s just the next buzz word, right? Wrong! Our online bootcamp will show you how you can claim your place as a market leader in the growing positive impact tourism revolution!

Are you treading water, wondering what YOUR point of difference should be in a saturated tourism market?

Do you feel like even though you’ve sat through multiple seminars on positive impact tourism, you STILL don’t know what you, as an operator, are supposed to do differently?? 

Trying to continually stand out from the crowd and stay ahead of the curve can feel like Mission: Impossible. Whether you’re new to tourism or you’re an industry stalwart, keeping up with what audiences want is critical. And what they want is for their trip to have a positive impact on the people and places they visit. 

Do these sound like familiar challenges?

  • You’re kiiind of on board with a positive impact approach, but does it really matter to customers and can someone just darn well spell out exactly what it means and how I can adapt it in my business?!

  • You have plenty of demands on your time and money, so you need to make sure any new focus is actually going to be worth it - for your bottom line, your public profile and as a way of engaging staff.

  • You understand the importance of having a unique point of difference, but you’ve struggled to come up with an original niche in a crowded market.

  • Sometimes you love the industry; other times you wonder whether it’s all worth it and what the bigger picture is. Is it really possible to combine profit and purpose?

Oh, and let’s not forget lucky number 5. Honestly? It seems like other tourism businesses are always getting profiled in the media and are continually used as case studies by industry stakeholders. You go to the same industry events and network along with everyone else, but you seem to miss out on opportunities to be featured. It’s hurting your business and your confidence. 

“Going through the Six Dimensions model made me realise that I’m already part of the way there - but now I have so many more ideas to put in place!” - Phil, Beta Test Group 1

You’re running a tourism business, living the dream. I mean, surely the place sells itself. Right?

Weeelll, not necessarily. 

As you know, it takes constant focus to keep a business on track and on trend. Margins are tight, pleasing customers can be tough, staff come and go, and it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. And, just when you thought you might have it figured out, there’s a new kid on the block throwing curve balls - positive impact.

The Travel Better Project is pioneering a new learning resource to give tourism operators the clarity and tools they need to become market leaders in positive impact tourism.

Why is positive impact a “thing” all of a sudden? And will it really make business better?

With the planet in peril and socio-economic and geopolitical issues causing upheaval for people everywhere, industries are on notice to clean up their act or risk losing their social license to operate. 

Whether or not they’re responsible - doesn’t matter!! Consumers know their way around a sustainability report and can sniff out “impact washing” from a pile of dirty laundry. 

True enough - a positive impact approach is not a silver bullet for every challenge you might face. 

But given that positive impact is still new, NOW is the time to jump on board and become an early adopter and - eventually - a market leader. 

This could be YOUR point of difference, allowing you to:

  • Attract the right customers

  • Potentially charge more

  • Give the media and industry stakeholders a reason to profile you (hello, free PR!)

  • Attract and retain skilled, committed staff who want to work for businesses with a higher purpose than just making money

  • Have a constant pipeline of great content and stories to tell

  • Find meaning and personal satisfaction in the impact you help create

We’re here to help you get there.

Introducing…Positive Impact Tourism: Bootcamp For Operators!

An Online Course to Help You Become a Market Leader in Positive Impact Tourism and Find Meaning in Your Business

Because you want a business that is successful - but also one that makes you PROUD. 

Because you know you have a great product to offer - maybe this is the secret sauce to being seen and heard and getting the recognition you deserve.

Because you love the community and region where you live - it would feel good to contribute to making it even better.

Bootcamp For Operators has three main goals:

  1. To help you understand what positive impact tourism is, why it matters and what’s involved so you can decide whether it is for you

  2. To guide you in engaging your team to develop an action plan tailored to your situation

  3. To give you the tools and strategies you need to become a market leader in positive impact tourism

The secret? Beat inertia and just get started.

That is to say, it is no secret at all. OF COURSE you just have to get started. But how can you be sure you’re thinking about it the right way, doing the right things and getting the most out of your effort?

Here’s where I can help.

BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS is based around unpacking and applying our proprietary framework, The Six Dimensions Of Positive Impact Tourism™️.

The modules in the course step you through exactly what you need to do to come up with your own original approach to implementing positive impact principles in your business. 

In BOOTCAMP, you will be given all the tools and techniques to engage your team to work together to come up with a plan. Even if you’re a solo operator, you’ll get ideas for how you can use these creative processes to ensure you get the fresh input you need. 

But deciding what you’re going to do is just one part of it. I also show you what you need to do to capitalise on your work by putting systems in place that will track, measure and, most importantly, share all the great outcomes you’re achieving. 

I’ll even show you how you can go even further by helping shape the movement into the future…which may even lead to new services and income beyond your core tourism business.

BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS is set up to take away the guesswork and catalyse you into action.

How many times have you attended a workshop or a seminar and thought, “well, yes, that sounds like something I could do”. And then? CRICKETS. You get busy, you forget the steps you’re supposed to take, and it sounded much more convincing in the seminar room than it seems now you’re back in your office. 

BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS is a self-paced, online course with step-by-step video instructions that you can watch whenever suits you, as many times as you need. Better still, work through the modules with your team so you’re all on the same page as you tackle the exercises. 

You’ll receive downloadable tools, worksheets, examples, ideas and other helpful resources paired with each module.

You’re about to try something new and probably step outside your comfort zone. Are you excited?! 

Just what if it worked? Where will you be in five years?

Inside BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS, the 8 online, self-paced modules are designed to be done in order so you can build your Positive Impact Tourism Roadmap all the way from start to finish.

From ideation through to execution (and beyond).

If you aren’t quite sure yet whether positive impact tourism is for you, fear not! BOOTCAMP walks you through plenty of different ideas and helps you construct an approach that: 

  • Will lead to meaningful outcomes for the people and/or place where you operate

  • Is personally important to you and/or your staff and customers

  • Is tailored to your specific type and stage of business so it will be sustainable and help you achieve your broader business goals

You’ll have a tonne of fun doing the exercises and creative tools with your team - and I’m willing to bet your team will be excited about the chance to engage and get involved in developing a new kind of strategy. This is pretty important, as they’ll most likely be the ones making it all happen behind the scenes! 

There are eight modules (plus some special bonuses!), each one designed to give you the background information you need as well as a set of exercises and creative tools for you to do to help you build your strategy and roadmap for becoming a Positive Impact Tourism Market Leader.

  • Housekeeping! Don’t worry - no vacuums required. This is just about getting you oriented so you know what to expect and how to get the most out of the course. You'll also hear a bit about The Travel Better Project and how this course was developed.

  • We start by exploring what positive impact tourism is, what it isn’t, why it’s important and why now. You’ll be introduced to the Six Dimensions of Positive Impact Tourism™️ framework with some basic examples to illustrate the concepts, plus we’ll explore the benefits and challenges.

  • In this module, we look at the past, present and future. We’ll take stock of what you’ve done before in the impact space, and we’ll assess what worked and what could have been better. We’ll assess where you think you are currently on the Momentum Pathway and, most importantly, we’ll do a visioning exercise to explore your future ambition.

  • Here we’ll dive deep - deeper than you've been before - into a framework that has been tailor-made for tourism operators - the Six Dimensions of Positive Impact Tourism. We’ll look at real-life examples, a metric tonne of ideas for what you could do under each Dimension, plus you’ll work through exercises based on hypothetical scenarios to help you get the hang of it. 

  • This is where the fun REALLY starts! We’ll be using some tried-‘n-tested techniques perfected over a number of years through group workshops in the field  to brainstorm a list of original  ideas to populate your very own Idea Moshpit.

  • In this Masterclass, we take the ideas generated and we go through a process of democratic voting on the ideas and a process of prioritisation to select the preferred options. With a solid shortlist, you’ll then estimate costs to come up with a budget, and bring it all together into a short, sharp action plan.

  • In this module, we introduce the BETTERR method, which is a clear and simple approach to tracking and evaluating what you do. BETTERR stands for: Baseline, Establish Targets, Track, Evaluate, Report, Reflect. We’ll explore the differences between outputs, outcomes and impact, we’ll cover some systems and tools used for impact tracking, plus we’ll look at what to include in a public-facing impact report (if you choose to produce one). 

  • Masterclass # 7 covers how you can get the most out of sharing your positive impact journey, including different types of content, what to talk about and when, sharpening your storytelling skills, and aligning content with the typical tourism customer cycle. This module will touch on the usual suspects, like social media and traditional PR, but also some unconventional tactics you could experiment with, like guerilla marketing.

  • The final module looks at what the future could hold for you as a Positive Impact Tourism market leader. Having come this far, you will have learned a lot along the way and have so much to share. We explore the different leadership roles you could play, including: shaping the movement, mentoring others, publishing your journey, advocating for change within the industry, serving on boards, and contributing to policy development. We’ll also discuss opportunities to capitalise on your experience by diversifying into fee-for-service offers as a Positive Impact Tourism practitioner.

  • Congratulations on completing the course! Now you have a valuable skill set and toolbox to apply positive impact principles in your tourism business. Embrace what you’ve learned and look forward to meaningful implementation. Well done!

There’s no theory (whoo-hoo!) - only a practical “how-to” approach with loads of examples, ideas, step-by-step instructions, and just the minimum background information for context where you need it. 

Each module combines video lessons with downloadable worksheets, checklists, tools and resources for you to use and keep. You’ll also get a free copy of the Positive Impact Tourism: Guidebook and Toolkit for Operators, which is another useful resource that complements the material in the course.

BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS is taught in an online classroom where you’ll learn how to become a Market Leader in positive impact tourism and set up your Roadmap from start to finish.

Learn on your own schedule. You’ll receive access to the learning platform, which you can log in to at any time. Watch the course videos whenever is convenient for you, wherever you are in the world. There’s no drip feeding; all course content is available when you login. However, it is recommended to follow the module sequentially,

Learn with your team. It’s more than possible to go through the modules on your own. However, the magic happens when you engage your team in the process. Watch the videos as a group or individually, and then come together to work through the tools and exercise.

Learn from, and share with, others. Even though the course content is pre-recorded, there are still opportunities to share and collaborate. There is a private Facebook group* open to those who have completed BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS and other learning initiatives.

Learn through doing. Like all good courses, BOOTCAMP contains plenty of ways to learn, including through reading, watching, listening and reflecting. Where the rubber really hits the road, though, is through doing. You’ll definitely get the most out of the content if you give the exercises a go. 

By the end, you’ll not only have crafted your very own approach to positive impact tourism with a tailored action plan, you’ll also have an engaged team that’s excited to support you on the journey, AND you’ll have a vision for how your business can lead the market in this space.

For our first release, we’re offering 30% off in exchange for genuine feedback, testimonials and insights into how BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS has helped you with your goals to craft a positive impact tourism approach for your business.

This includes things like where you might be stuck and what would help you get there faster.

You’ll receive all updates to BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS as they roll out!

About The Instructor

Emma Pethybridge is the Founder of The Travel Better Project, which aims to inspire and enable a positive impact approach to tourism through creative learning products aimed at operators. The Travel Better Project’s signature product, BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS, is a course about how to become a market leader in positive impact tourism by just getting started.

Her company, Ethical Republic, is a Certified B Corp that specialises in supporting Indigenous and local communities to engage in the cultural and nature-based economy through on country enterprises and by engaging in environmental and cultural markets.

She has worked with Traditional Owners throughout Australia on conceptualising, developing, operating and sharing cultural tourism products, including in the Wet Tropics, Great Barrier Reef, Cape York, Kimberley and more.

She’s lived and worked in South East Asia, North America, the Middle East and, of course, Australia. She’s on the Board of Cradle Coast NRM and is part of the Fiji High Integrity Carbon Project Working Group. Emma was selected as an AMP Foundation ‘Tomorrow Maker’ in 2023 to develop The Travel Better Project.

Emma combines her qualifications in biocultural anthropology, public policy ancd business to work with clients on unusual and imaginative projects. She lives by her work motto is: “Do Cool Sh*t and Get Sh*t Done”.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Well, that is indeed one of the goals of the course - to help you figure out whether this is for you. My guess is that you’ll find at least something in the approach that you can work for you. Remember, it’s not “all or nothing” - this is not a situation where if you are a positive impact tourism operator, then you must do a-b-c-d. It’s about finding your unique approach and then packaging and communicating it appropriately.

  • It sure could be! While the content is aimed at supporting operators in becoming market leaders in positive impact, it is also very helpful at informing others in the tourism industry about what positive impact tourism is and what operators in their area COULD be doing differently.

  • Positive impact tourism is about a lot more than sustainable operating practices. If you’re already advanced in sustainable operations - that’s awesome!! It means you have 1 out of 6 dimensions already covered. BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS will help you nail the other 5 dimensions, and also give you a host of tools and ideas for tracking and communicating your impact, and where you could take this focus on positive impact in the future as a market leader.

  • YUP. You’ll get instant access to the entire course content upon purpose. You can work through it at your leisure, solo or with you team, in an on-demand style.

  • Pre-recorded videos structured into 8 x masterclasses (or modules). Each masterclass (module) is supplemented by tools, exercises, additional resources, examples, and more. Especially for the team exercises, I’ll walk you through (step-by-step) exactly what you need to do. This type of creative, interactive style of workshop usually comes at a MUCH HIGHER price tag! 

  • Absolutely! While The Travel Better Project has its roots in Tasmania’s world-renowned tourism industry (the island state off the south-east coast of Australia), it is relevant for tourism operators anywhere. A lot of examples used are based in Australia, but that might be just what an operator in Europe/North America/Asia/any other country needs - fresh ideas and unconventional approaches! Ultimately it’s up to you to adapt the ideas and craft what works best for you based on your business type and your local context.

  • You betcha 🙂. All course participants are entitled to a thirty (30) day refund from the date of purchase if you are not satisfied with the product.

Join Now

Reset and refresh your tourism business by creating your plan to become a MARKET LEADER in positive impact tourism.

If you’ve been wondering what to do differently and how to make a start that works for you, here’s your recipe! Key ingredients, method, equipment and all - no guesswork required.

JUST AUD $497 TO FIND YOUR POSITIVE IMPACT TOURISM NICHE

You’ll have instant access to BOOTCAMP FOR OPERATORS as soon as it’s released! 🌟