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Consultant · Speaker · Planner

Marketing isn't just Promotion.

As long as tourism businesses and destinations don't understand this, tourism keeps losing strength and opportunities. My job is to get the basics right, which is far from easy, and only then go further: making you chosen, not just remembered.

@thiagoakira.com.br · Campo Grande/MS

Thiago Akira palestrando
+30,000 tourism professionals in the audience
+300 brands and destinations served
ABBTUR National Merit & Talent Award 2024
20+ years in marketing, tourism, and teaching
223 talks across Brazil
Partner at the AI in Tourism project
1st carbon-neutral speaker in Brazil

Clients I've worked with

What's at stake

Defining Marketing as just Promotion is tourism's most costly, most common mistake. Promotion is only one of the 8 Ps of Marketing. You need a good Product, a competitive Price, a strategic distribution (Place), qualified People and foolproof Processes, plus a clear Positioning and control over Performance to constantly innovate and improve the offer. With all of that well built, working on Promotion gets a lot easier! Whoever doesn't grasp this logic spends on ads what should have been invested in becoming desired, and stays invisible in the market.

Who I work with

Tourism businesses, destinations, and events.

  • 01

    Businesses

    Lodging, ground handlers, attractions, bars, restaurants, transportation providers, tour guides, travel agencies, and tour operators who want to be chosen, not just remembered.

    • Consulting and mentoring
    • Marketing planning
    • Diagnostics
    • Reputation crisis management
    • Custom projects and AI
    I'm a business
  • 02

    Destinations

    Tourism boards, CVBs, associations, and regional governance bodies (IGRs) that need to position a destination, territory, or tourism region and mobilize the trade.

    • Destination positioning and branding
    • Source markets
    • Marketing planning
    • Trade coordination and cooperative agreements
    • Reputation crisis management
    I represent a destination
  • 03

    Events

    Organizers, suppliers, and promoters of tourism events who want stage content that actually moves tourism forward.

    • Keynote talks
    • Content curation and program design
    • Workshops and team training
    • Moderation and hosting
    I'm organizing an event

Partners and projects

The method

Compass.

Orientation before movement. Four cardinal points that order every decision, and a needle, market listening, that never stops recalibrating.

Learn the method
  1. N North

    Market

    Where demand comes from. We define the potential and priority source markets before any tactic, both geographic and by profile. Aligned with the leading trends in tourism and consumer behavior, an immersive market analysis.

  2. L East

    Positioning

    What makes the destination or business different, competitive, and desirable in the mind of the traveler and the trade. A deep SWOT analysis and definition of the 8 Ps. It comes before the objectives.

  3. S South

    Journey

    Who the person is, and where in the journey they stand: dreaming, planning, booking, experience, advocacy. B2B and B2C never treated as one and the same. Factoring in SEO and AI search (LLMO), the journey is no longer linear.

  4. O West

    Execution

    Only now channels, content, campaigns, and tools, all derived from the decisions above. A practical, organized action plan, integrated into a Market Intelligence system.

  5. Needle

    Active listening

    The needle that recalibrates everything: observatory data and market listening feeding every new round. Without listening, the compass doesn't point.

Agenda

Where I'll be.

The next confirmed stages. Want to bring one of these topics to your event? Check date availability.

  • 28 Jul next up today 2026

    Fórum Corredor Azul

    Por que e como a IA Deve Fazer Parte da Estratégia de Marketing dos Destinos Turísticos

    Ilhabela/SP Sebrae SP
  • 29 Jul tomorrow 2026

    Workshop Anseditur

    Workshop de IA no Turismo

    Brasília/DF Anseditur
  • 11 Aug in 14 days 2026

    Fórum de Turismo Religioso do Sudeste

    Muito Além da Fé: como Inovação, Experiência e Posicionamento Estão Transformando o Turismo Religioso

    Vitória/ES Sebrae ES
  • 12 Aug in 15 days 2026

    Travel Next Minas 2026

    Quem Vende Preço, Compete. Quem Vende História, Converte

    Belo Horizonte/MG Travel Next
  • 21 Aug in 24 days 2026

    Conexão Litoral Paraná 2026

    Como as Pessoas se Relacionam com as Marcas na Era Digital

    Pontal do Paraná/PR Sebrae PR
  • 16 Sep in 2 months 2026

    Seminário Costa Verde & Mar

    Como Ser Mais Estratégico no Seu Posicionamento Alinhado às Principais Tendências do Turismo

    Penha/SC Sebrae SC
  • 12 Nov in 4 months 2026

    Festuris Gramado 2026

    Gramado/RS Festuris
  • 25 Nov in 4 months 2026

    Abeta Summit 2026

    Como a Inteligência Artificial Está Impactando o Ecoturismo

    Campo Grande/MS Abeta

See the full list of events and topics I've already spoken on in Tourism

Events where I have spoken

AI in Tourism

Artificial intelligence as strategy for destinations

Tourism has been flooded with gurus and generic tools wearing an artificial intelligence sticker. Almost none of them solve the problem of the people who work in tourism or run a destination. The AI in Tourism project came out of that gap: Thiago Akira, a marketing consultant for destinations, and Daniel Turbox, developer and founder of Turbox, design tailored solutions together for those who need market intelligence and strategic management in tourism.

How the project works
Thiago Akira and Daniel Turbox
Thiago Akira and Daniel Turbox

What people say

Results are the conversation that keeps going after the project ends.

  • Akira stands out in Brazilian tourism for his competence, his specialist knowledge, his straightforwardness and his ease in bringing people together. Always focused on innovation, he holds on to something essential: the ability to collaborate and build in partnership with other companies.
    Ana Clévia Guerreiro Sebrae Nacional
  • Thiago helped show Brazil how much marketing matters to the development of tourism in destinations and territories. His human eye, treating everyone as an equal, comes with real competence and a generosity in sharing what he knows. He makes a difference wherever he goes.
    Ana Carla Moura Brazilian Ministry of Tourism · Connection Amigos do Turismo
  • Fundação Grupo Boticário made an excellent choice bringing in Thiago Akira for the marketing plan of Grande Reserva Mata Atlântica. We were able to renew ourselves, recognize ourselves as a tourism destination, and adjust what needed adjusting. With a very consistent plan, we're winning our positioning in the market, attracting people who see value in nature conservation and in the historical and cultural value of our whole territory.
    Marcos Cruz Grande Reserva Mata Atlântica

Memberships and certifications