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 170 assigments in more than 35 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.

Mike Fabricius (PhD), Managing Director and Tourism Destination Specialist

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 started his career as 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 150 assignments across 35 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.

He regularly participates in missions for UN Tourism (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. He has been team leader for many assignments and has participated in the formulation of numerous regional, national and local level tourism policies, master plans, destination strategies, destination brand developments and many specialist tourism assignment related to statistics and information management, funding and financing, human resources, community-based and sustainable tourism development and other specialist topics.

Dr Fabricius was Editorial Board member of the international Journal of Sustainable Tourism for many years 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."

Our Values

Empowering Clients

Ownership

Participation

Interaction

Input
Enhancing Competitiveness

Markets

Competitors

USPs

ROI
Drawing on Experience

Track Record

Best Practice

Global Benchmarks
Delivering Quality

On Time

To the Point

Value for Money

Understandable

Associate Companies

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

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".

Natalia Rosa, Marketing & Communications Strategy and Implementation Specialist

Natalia Rosa is a seasoned tourism communications and marketing professional with over two decades of experience. As the founder and CEO of Big Ambitions, she specialises in developing and implementing strategies for diverse tourism clients globally. Natalia currently leads tourism projects for, among others, the SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance and Big Ambitions, enhancing collaboration and visibility across African states. Her extensive portfolio includes work with international brands like WTAAA and Flight Centre, as well as consulting for various national tourism organisations. With leadership roles in the Travel Lifestyle Network, Natalia also leverages her expertise in PR, Generative AI, marketing, and training to drive tourism growth across Africa. Her academic background in publishing, journalism, and digital marketing further enhances her ability to create impactful tourism marketing strategies.

Johnny Johnson, Brand Strategist

Johnny Johnson has forty years of experience working on brands and communications. He has a commercial bachelor's degree in commerce and an honours in business administration. He has been client service director and deputy managing director at Ogilvy’s, managing director at Young & Rubicam and Saatchi & Saatchi and chairman of specialist agencies at TBWA. He manages his own specialist brand and communications strategy agency (www.anthropos.co.za) and has worked with The Journey on development of the tourism destination brand strategies and identities for Kavango Zambezi Trans Frontier Conservation Area, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia national tourism brands.

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.