About Us

Tourism Doctors specialise in research, development and marketing for a range of organisations, businesses, communities and regions.

Allison Anderson and Alana Iles are tourism professionals with different backgrounds who have joined forces to bring together their complimentary skills and experience along with their passion for tourism in a partnership consulting to the tourism industry.

Alana Iles

Contact Alana
E. alana@tourismdoctors.com.au
M. 0413 426 226

Alana has experience in tourism research, product development and marketing which have been developed through industry and academic experience.

During her time at Tourism Western Australia, Alana managed relationships with a number of stakeholders including regional tourism organisations, other state tourism organisations, Tourism Australia at a government level, ATEC and AFTA at an industry body level and tour operators to ensure viable and sustainable ddestinations.

From a research perspective she can critically analyse the scope of current research, while previous academic experience has laid the foundation of research design and development along with a broad understanding of many of the issues relating to destination development. She has also used her research skills to identify gaps, quantify markets, and propose tourism product and service delivery solutions.

The dependance on a sustainable natural environment, specifically in Northern Queensland, has become particularly apparent with her PhD studies (using Cairns as a research site) coupled with her recent consulting work developing small business recovery plans in the wake of Cyclone Larry.

Alana's particular areas of professional expertise include:

Destination and tourism product marketing
Market research design, development, implementation and analysis
Small business marketing planning
Understanding of tourism distribution and stakeholders
Tourism product analysis and development
Quality service solution delivery

Current Research
PhD(Tourism) - Word of Mouth Destinations, a comparitive study of the backpacker and caravan/camping markets in Cairns, JCU (part-time)

Academic Qualifications
Bachelor of Business (Tourism) - Victoria University, Melbourne 1997

Allison Anderson

Contact Allison
E. Allison@tourismdoctors.com.au
M. 0409 334 223

Allison is experienced in assisting the development of local and regional tourism industries through fostering and advocating community involvment, research and analysis, and product development. Her academic grounding gives her the ability to design, develop and analyse research, and her experience working with businesses in small and remote towns and regional areas has given her the insight and ability to develop tourism products, markets and destinations.

Whilst Allison's research has taken her to New Zealand, the USA, Canada and Southeast Asia, the majority of her research and professional experience has been based in Hobart and the remote areas of Western and Northwestern Tasmania. The findings of Allison's research have led her to present widely to local, regional and peak tourism organisations, academic gatherings, political parties, the Premier of Tasmania, and as a member of the board of Events Tasmania.

Allison has worked as a Product Development Officer for Tasmanias'a West Coast towns, Executive Services Manager for a remote tourism operation, and a Community Partnerships Officer in Parks and Wildlife, Tasmania, all roles requiring consultation, facilitation and event management skills. In addition to this Allison has successfully operated her own tourism research consultancy designing and developing research in projects encompassing market research, track and trail strategies, major events, tourism award submissions and customer feedback.

Allison's particular areas of professional expertise include:

Community based tourism development
Fostering conversations and communication
Market research design, development, implementation and analysis
Small business marketing planning
Tourism product analysis and development
Event development and management

Publications
(2001) The Power of Community Involvement in Tourism - Harry Holgate Fellowship paper funded by Tourism Tasmania and Tourism Council Tasmania.
(1998) The Social Impacts of Tourism - Honours Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Academic Qualifications
Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Geography)(Victoria University of Wellington, NZ 1998)