Icon Tourism Consulting

24/08/2026

AI consulting has arrived in Perth.V2 AI has expanded into WA, opening a Perth office led locally by Richard Allen and Derek Bingham. And that tells us something important about where the professional services market is heading.

Technology consultants understand AI.
Economic consultants understand economic modeling.
Marketing agencies understand promotion.

All are valuable.

But none of those skills automatically mean someone understands how a destination actually works.

A visitor economy is not just a website, a dataset, a campaign, or a forecast. It is a complex system involving local government, tourism operators, accommodation, attractions, events, transport, community sentiment, infrastructure, investment, workforce, governance, and the visitor experience itself.

That is why I believe the next opportunity in tourism consulting is not to compete with AI firms, economists, or marketing agencies.

It is to bring deep destination knowledge to the table—and then know when to bring in the right specialist expertise.

At Icon Tourism, our strength is that we have lived and breathed destinations for decades. We understand how tourism works on the ground, not just in a strategy document.

AI will absolutely have a role in tourism and local government. So will data, economics, marketing, and technology.

But the real question is:
What should AI actually do for a destination, tourism organisation or council visitor-economy team?

That question requires more than software knowledge. It requires an understanding of tourism, place, governance, operators, visitors and communities.

The future will not belong to consultants who try to be everything.
It will belong to those who understand the destination—and can bring the right expertise together at the right time.

If you would like to discuss what this could mean for your destination, tourism organisation or local government area, I would be happy to have a conversation.

You can book a free appointment with Icon Tourism here: https://lnkd.in/gntaZ7eP

18/08/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-tourism-isnt-working-look-six-things-emmanuel-manny-papadoulis-lfpnc

I have spent more than 40 years working across tourism with businesses, destinations, local governments, regional organisations, state and Federal government bodies as well as industry bodies. Over that time, I have walked into plenty of towns and regions where someone has said some version of the s

16/07/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/artificial-intelligence-has-become-national-policy-what-papadoulis-ecc0c

Relaunching the AI & Tourism Think Tank with a conversation about one of the biggest changes facing Australia's visitor economy. Yesterday's announcement by the Australian government to establish a national Office of AI is an important milestone for our country.

01/04/2026

It’s starting to feel like an Easter miracle here at Bayview

Our team has been working tirelessly to bring the park back to tip-top shape, ready to welcome our guests for Easter.

Coral Bay is well stocked and smiling — with plenty of fuel, power, water, and food supplies available.

While we’re still unable to confirm a reopening date due to road closures, we’re quietly confident it’s only days away.

The support and effort from our incredible staff, the local community, DFES, and SES crews has been nothing short of amazing — we’re so grateful.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as soon as more information comes to hand. Thank you for your patience and understanding — we can’t wait to welcome you back 💙

23/10/2025

✈️ Most people think ChatGPT is just for writing… but it’s now doing far more than that.

I’ve been using new features like Agent Mode, Deep Research, and Vision to speed up real tourism consulting work — from finding trade leads to benchmarking destinations and even helping fix website issues in real time.

It’s honestly changing the way I work — and how I think about AI in tourism.
Here’s how. 👇

People still say “ChatGPT is good for cranking out copy.” Sure, but that’s the least interesting thing it does.

25/09/2025

01/09/2025

Looks like my father is in Greece with a photo taken over the weekend.
… but it’s just a selfie I created without spending a fortune to actually fly my Father to Crete. Crazy, right?

Of course, nothing compares to being there — feeling the air, smelling the sea, soaking in the atmosphere. But here’s my point: today it’s nearly impossible to tell if an image is AI-made or human-made. And very soon, there will be no difference at all. Some of the latest apps you really cant pick. This was generated with Gemini and completed in less than 45 second.

For tourism operators — hotels, tours, attractions—this isn’t just a “nice to have” anymore. Using AI to smooth the guest journey, sharpen your brand voice, and deliver instant replies will soon be the baseline. Those who don’t adopt it will pay the price later in high costs and unhappy guests.

Today it’s an advantage. Tomorrow it’s survival.
👉 What’s your opinion? Just leave a sentence and lets get the discussion going. The original photo on the right

25/08/2025

Tourism and AI: Why Small Operators Could Soon Leapfrog the Big Players

AI in tourism isn’t just about fancy tools — it’s about how we adopt them.

In Episode 15 of The Tourism AI Podcast, Peter Pilarski and Kendel from the Tourism AI Network had a fascinating conversation about what’s really working (and what’s not) when it comes to AI in our industry.

Here are a few takeaways worth sharing:

👉 Keep it simple. Most of us are overloaded with tools already. The trick is to clean up the basics—files, processes, and naming conventions. Do the “boring work” now, and you’ll be ready for the next wave of AI.

👉 Learn in your own way. Big group training sessions are useful, but the biggest gains come from short, hands-on “intuition sprints” where someone shows you how AI can help with your daily tasks.

👉 Small is nimble. Large enterprises often get stuck — too many layers, too much hesitation. That gives smaller businesses an opening to move fast, try new things, and even outpace much bigger competitors.

👉 It’s about people, not just tech. AI adoption grows faster when there’s community. The episode talked about sharing wins, building networks, and even hosting meetups so we can learn together.

👉 The dream: less reporting, more tourism. Many DMOs and operators spend countless hours on funding and grant reports. Imagine if AI could handle that, giving you back the time to focus on guests and growing your business. That’s exactly what Tourism AI Network is working on next.

Our view at Icon Tourism:
The real advantage won’t go to the operators with the biggest budgets—it will go to the ones willing to simplify, learn, and embed AI into their culture.

👏 Thanks to The Tourism AI Podcast for sharing such valuable insights. Worth a listen if you’re exploring AI in your business!https://open.spotify.com/episode/6R3qsrZWaP6heDErvDFpZU

Call now to connect with business.

25/08/2025

It is very simple concept that has been practised for 2000 years and has been lost in very recent years "A concept attributed to author Bob Burg suggests "people do business with people we know, like, and trust."