Associates

Dr Mike Fabricius

Dr Mike Fabricius is an experienced tourism strategist, policy analyst and marketer who played a leadership role in the successful development of the South African tourism industry and has been consulting at an international level for the past 7 years. After occupying various senior management positions in South Africa's tourism industry (among others national Director General of Tourism and CEO of a leading provincial tourism board) Mike established an independent tourism advisory and consultancy practice in 2004, when he also became a TEAM Senior Associate. Since then he has managed and executed various projects across more than 20 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

His most recent assignments include:

• Tourism strategies and development plans for various states in India (IFC, Government of India)
• Team member for conceptualizing development proposals for the Chang'an Han Dynasty site in Xi'an, China (Xi'an City government)
• Tourism master plans and urban design concepts for various major destinations in Saudi Arabia (Supreme Commission for Tourism)
• Tourism growth and job creation strategy for Namibia (Government of Namibia)
• Tourism marketing strategy for Sultanate of Oman (Ministry of Tourism)
• Tourism market segmentation and target marketing proposals for Botswana (African Development Bank)
• Guidelines for Community based Tourism Development in Botswana (UNWTO, UNDP, Government of Botswana)
• Niche market studies for Accessible Tourism and Educational Tourism in South Africa (South African Government)
• Feasibility study for a Heritage Hotels company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Supreme Commission of Tourism)
• Tourism strategies for North-east Anatolia and Diyarbakir, Turkey (UNWTO, UNDP, Technopolis)
• Tourism marketing strategy and marketing campaign plan for the Northern Cape province of South Africa (Northern Cape Provincial Government)
• Tourism strategy for Lesotho (Lesotho Government and World Bank).
• Principal author of "A Practical Guide to Destination Management" (UNWTO) and "Branding Tourism Destinations: A Practitioner's Guide" (JICA, UNWTO, SNV and Ghana Ministry of Tourism)

He regularly participates in assignments for the World Tourism Organization and teaches courses on Tourism Policy and Marketing Strategy for Tourism Managers on behalf of the UNWTO in various international locations.

Dr Fabricius is Editorial Board member of the respected international Journal of Sustainable Tourism and he is a regular speaker at tourism seminars, conferences and workshops. He has received various academic and business related awards and his profile is included in the Who's Who in Southern Africa. His qualifications include a PhD and an MBA (cum laude) from the University of South Africa. In 2002 he was awarded the University of South Africa Council Medal for the best MBA course student for his dissertation "Competitive Strategies for Tourism Destinations."

Key areas of expertise

Branding and positioning, marketing strategy and implementation, destination policy and strategy development, partnership building, tourism business development, local and regional tourism management, socio-economic impact management, sustainable tourism management and project feasibility studies.