Destination Marketing, Done Responsibly.
Destination narrative, visitor experience and marketing strategy support — built around your destination's specific identity, values and community.
For destinations that want to attract the right visitors, tell a more honest story and build tourism that genuinely serves the places and communities behind it.
Custom scope | Built around your destination
Re-imagining destination marketing
Supporting you in spreading the word about your destinations, responsibly.
Most destinations face a version of the same challenge: Visitor numbers that don't reflect the quality of what's on offer, a marketing narrative that sounds like every other destination, stakeholders pulling in different directions and the pressure to grow visitor numbers while protecting the very things that make the destination worth visiting.
I work with DMOs and tourism boards to develop the positioning, the visitor experience strategy and the marketing narrative that gives a destination a coherent, honest identity, whilst communicating that identity in a way that reaches and converts the visitors that values, respects and contributes to a place.
Our responsibility as placemakers
I have spent five years working inside destination marketing – not consulting from the outside, but embedded within a Scottish tourism cooperative, working directly with operators, communities and stakeholders to develop and market a destination with limited resources, complex relationships and high expectations.
I understand the politics and practice of destination marketing and placemaking. From managing various stakeholder expectations to navigating funding cycles and balancing the tension between growing visitor numbers and protecting local communities.
I think critically about tourism in a way most agencies don't because I genuinely believe the industry needs to do better, and I bring that lens to every destination I work with.
What i can help you with:
Every destination engagement is a custom project, built around your specific identity, your stakeholder landscape and where your biggest opportunities and gaps are.
Below is the range of work we might do together. Book a discovery call today to discuss your specific project.
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I work with destination teams to develop a clear, honest positioning that reflects what makes the destination genuinely distinctive — not just the most photogenic version of it.
This includes:
✓ Destination audit: how you are currently positioned versus how you want to be perceived, and where the gap is
✓ Conscious visitor persona development: who your destination is genuinely best suited for, and how to reach them
✓ Responsible tourism narrative: a values framework that communicates your destination's commitment to sustainable practice without greenwashing or vague statements
✓ Messaging architecture: the language, tone and story hierarchy that works across all stakeholder communications
Possible delivery as an interactive workshop.
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The visitor experience, from the moment someone lands in your destination to the moment they leave, is your most powerful marketing asset.
This includes:
✓ Visitor journey mapping: understanding how visitors currently move through and experience your destination, where the high points are and where the experience breaks down
✓ Dispersal and flow strategy: helping destinations move visitors beyond the honeypot sites toward lesser-known areas, reducing pressure on the most fragile locations
✓ Seasonal and off-peak visitor experience development: building compelling reasons to visit in shoulder seasons, reducing over tourism pressure in peak periods
✓ Community and operator alignment: ensuring the visitor experience is coherent across independent businesses, not just the destination brand itself
✓ Guest information design: creating the welcome assets, digital guides and orientation content that help visitors engage with the destination responsibly
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One of the most valuable things a DMO can do is help its operator network market better – because better-marketed operators mean a stronger destination brand overall.
✓ Operator marketing training workshops: practical, jargon-free sessions on guest journey, storytelling and booking conversion for your member businesses
✓ Operator marketing toolkit: a shared resource of templates, frameworks and guidance your operators can use independently
✓ Content creator and press trip strategy: planning and briefing visits that generate the kind of coverage that serves the destination's responsible tourism positioning, not just its most Instagrammable moments
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✓ Campaign strategy for seasonal or always-on destination marketing
✓ Content pillar and editorial framework: what your destination should be saying, where and why
✓ Conscious traveller campaign development: reaching the visitors most likely to engage deeply, spend locally and return
✓ Briefing and directing external agencies or internal teams: ensuring execution aligns with the strategy rather than drifting from it
How to get started
Introductory Call
A 45-minute introductory call is the right first step. No pitch, no proposal – just an honest conversation about where your destination is and what would actually help.
Project Scope
From there, I develop a bespoke project proposal within 5–7 days, including scope, timeline and investment.
Delivery & Handover
We hold regular check-in calls throughout the project. At the end of the project, you receive a detailed handover & training documents.
“Lara has a fantastic energy and commitment to her responsibilities, constantly embracing new and innovative approaches, learning from feedback and analytics and being mindful of the many types of stakeholders needs we need to service.”
— Cathy Craig, CEO at Argyll & the Isles Tourism Cooperative
Let’s work together
Any destination project is a bespoke package based on your unique goals, challenges and community. We start with a discovery call to scope out your project and timeline.
Simply submit this form and book your free call.