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Organization type: Contractor
Profile:
TDI is a small women-owned firm. It is a strong, niche team of mostly women tourism professionals who have practiced all aspects of sustainable tourism with a demand-driven emphasis—from strategy development and policy-making at national and landscape levels to specific facilities and services at the community level. Its client base includes multilateral and bilateral donors, NGO’s, Ministries of Tourism, and the private sector. Through its six years of work experience and recognition, TDI has become part of an international network of sustainable tourism practitioners that bring key technical assistance to bear for national, regional, and international tourism markets.
The company’s portfolio of assistance in sustainable tourism ranges from nature-based tourism in protected areas to increased linkages of beach resorts with local disadvantaged populations. TDI has successfully implemented multi-destination initiatives that have crossed political borders to achieve economic and branding integration. In addition, its principals have wide experience in the design of social communication strategies that ensure community participation in the product cycle (pre-investment, development, and operation). The company has developed intelligence on the latest trends in tourism including Geotourism, SAVE and responsible travel; and has accumulated significant knowledge on best practices that achieve and measure impacts at the community level, including: livelihoods approach, backward linkages with the informal sector, value chain with a gender approach, e-commerce for MSMEs, and mainstreaming pro-poor tourism.
Areas of Sustainable Tourism (ST) expertise:
- Community-based tourism
- Nature-based tourism
- Tourism in protected areas (natural and cultural)
- Human development and poverty reduction
- Investment promotion
- Market research
- Destination management
- MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Converences, and Events
- SAVE (Scientific, Academic, Volunteer and Educational Travel
- Marketing
- Strategic partnerships
- Value chain with a gender approach
- Fundraising
- Events
Regions worked:
- Asia
- Caribbean
- Latin America
USAID projects:
- Panama: Ecotourism Strategic Planning, Soberania National Park
(2004-2005)
TDI assessed the ecotourism potential of a national park, which is to be linked with two other major attractions in Panama City. The goal is to develop a tourism cluster, using the value chain approach, to serve as a model for protected area management. The team designed a pilot project to test an ecotourism management proposal. This project was done for the Academy for Educational Development under a USAID contract.
- Guatemala: Tourism Assessment Potential, Piedras Negras, El Peru and Mirador (2003-2004)
TDI conducted an assessment of the supply, demand (close to 400 interviews with tourists and tour operators in Guatemala, Belize, and the U.S.), and local organizations (mainly Community Cooperatives and local Tourism Committees) in these three archaeological sites and the four communities surrounding the sites (Bethel, La Técnica, Paso Caballos, and Carmelita) for Counterpart International. The project is being funded by USAID Guatemala, and the objective is to assess the tourism potential in these communities and sites as an alternative for economic development.
- Bolivia: Tourism Development Planning (2002)
TDI conducted an assessment of the tourism development potential of the Yungas region of Bolivia. Work included conducting a detailed SWOT analysis of the region’s development potential, interviewing key public and private sector stakeholders within Bolivia, and developing 20 detailed Action Plans that are now being evaluated for implementation by USAID and the Government of Bolivia.
Recent ST partnerships and collaborations:
- Aid to Artisans
- ARD, Inc.
- Chemonics International Inc.
- Conservation International
- Counterpart International
- Deloitte & Touche
- FONATUR (Mexican Trust Fund for Tourism Development)
- IFC
- international Center for Responsible Tourism
- Interval International
- Inter-American Development Bank
- IRG
- Mundo Maya Organization
- Nathan Associates
- National Geographic
- OAS
- Smithsonian Institution
- UNESCO
- UN World Tourism Organization
- WildAid
- World Bank
- World Hotel Link
- World Heritage Sites
Contact:
TDI - Tourism Development International
1250 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Phone: (202) 747-6387
Email: tatiana@tditourism.com
www.tditourism.com
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