Episode 23: High Yield Tourism Podcast

Join Gary Bowerman and Dr. Jens Thraenhart as they explore how the SOAR framework can help tourism destinations move beyond traditional planning models to create more authentic, resilient, and high-quality visitor experiences.

With:

Gary
Bowerman

Dr Jens
Thraenhart

Listen to it now on your favourite podcast channels:

Podchaser

Amazon Music

Podbean

Spotify

Apple Podcast

Summary

🎙️ Episode Overview

In this episode, Gary Bowerman and Dr. Jens Thraenhart discuss the SOAR framework—an alternative strategic planning model for tourism destinations. Unlike traditional business-oriented models such as SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results) emphasizes a strengths-based, opportunity-driven, and aspirational approach to destination development. Thraenhart proposes adapting SOAR specifically for tourism, arguing that the sector’s complexity, cultural foundations, and transformative nature demand a unique framework.

🧭 The SOAR Framework: Core Principles

SOAR = Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results

1. Strengths

  • Identify what makes a destination unique and irreplaceable—natural assets, cultural heritage, community spirit, or authenticity.
  • Focus on what differentiates the place rather than fixing weaknesses.
  • Example: The Faroe Islands leveraged remoteness and weather as part of the visitor experience, turning limitations into selling points.

2. Opportunities

  • Recognize how to align destination assets with passionate traveler communities or “micro-niches.”
  • Build products and infrastructure that serve specific interests (e.g., dark-sky tourism, martial arts, nature conservation).
  • Shift from generic growth to strategic alignment with passion-based markets.

3. Aspirations

  • Define what the destination wants to stand for—transformation, stewardship, community prosperity, or authenticity.
  • Encourage destinations to set visionary goals, like becoming a world-leading stargazing site or a model for regenerative tourism.
  • Moves beyond surface branding toward purpose-driven identity.

4. Results

  • Measure meaning and purpose, not only arrivals and revenue.
  • Track indicators like repeat visitation, community impact, sustainability, and advocacy.
  • Aim for quality over quantity, valuing deeper engagement and visitor transformation.

🌍 Why Tourism Needs Its Own Framework

Thraenhart argues that:

  • Tourism isn’t a single industry—it’s an ecosystem involving many stakeholders.
  • Existing business frameworks (like SWOT) fail to capture cultural, emotional, and community dynamics.
  • Destinations must shift from volume-based growth to value-based growth.
  • Tourism strategies are often cookie-cutter and formulaic, lacking soul and differentiation.
  • The SOAR model encourages possibility-seeking rather than problem-solving, reframing strategy toward potential and innovation.

🧩 Comparing SOAR and SWOT

  • SWOT: Focuses on identifying internal weaknesses and external threats.
  • SOAR: Builds on strengths and opportunities, fostering aspirational thinking and collaborative development.
  • While weaknesses shouldn’t be ignored, SOAR reframes focus toward constructive, strength-based innovation.

🏞️ Real-World Examples

  • Faroe Islands: Used remoteness and rainy weather as unique tourism features, demonstrating how strengths can outweigh weaknesses.
  • Saudi Arabia: New tourism market needing scale but must define authentic experiences beyond generic desert imagery.
  • Barbados: Strong repeat visitation rate reflects deep visitor connection and long-term advocacy.
  • Finland & Chile: Dark-sky tourism leaders showing how destinations can collaborate and learn rather than compete.

💡 Collaboration vs. Competition

  • SOAR promotes a collaborative mindset: learning from and partnering with other destinations that share similar niche strengths.
  • Example: Martial arts tourism across Korea, Japan, and Thailand—each country can cooperate to serve global enthusiasts.
  • Encourages knowledge exchange and shared passion ecosystems, not isolationist competition.

⚠️ The “Destination Beige” Trap

  • Destination Beige = homogeneity and risk aversion.
  • Destinations that imitate others or over-standardize lose authenticity and start competing on price.
  • When experiences become commodified, destinations enter decline (as per Butler’s Destination Life Cycle model).
  • SOAR helps avoid this by focusing on distinctive, passion-driven experiences.

💬 Measuring Advocacy and Passion Tourism

  • Advocacy becomes a central success metric under SOAR.
  • Passionate travelers become destination ambassadors, sustaining visitation even in times of crisis.
  • Thraenhart contrasts mass influencers with micro-niche champions:
    • A creator with 5,000 devoted followers may have more authentic impact than one with 500,000 disengaged fans.
    • Encourages bottom-up storytelling—empowering local creators and community hosts to tell authentic stories.

🧠 Strategic Takeaways

  1. Start with strengths—what makes your destination truly unique.
  2. Define your passion niches—align assets with traveler communities.
  3. Build around purpose—articulate clear aspirations beyond profit.
  4. Measure holistic results—look at meaning, advocacy, and transformation.
  5. Collaborate, don’t copy—learn from peers but maintain authenticity.
  6. Avoid the “beige trap”—differentiate boldly or risk commodification.
  7. Empower advocates—true influence comes from passionate communities, not mass marketing.

🏁 Conclusion

The episode presents SOAR as a forward-looking, human-centered model for tourism development in the 2030s—one that embraces strengths, builds on community passions, and measures success through advocacy and transformation rather than volume and spend.
Bowerman and Thraenhart conclude that the future of tourism strategy depends on authentic differentiation, collaboration, and purpose-driven planning, positioning SOAR as a potential cornerstone for “passion tourism” and long-term destination resilience.

READ THE TRANSCRIPT

Key Highlights

SOAR replaces SWOT with a strengths-based mindset — encouraging destinations to focus on what makes them unique and full of potential rather than on weaknesses and threats.

Tourism needs its own strategic framework — because it’s a complex ecosystem built on culture, community, and experience, not just business metrics or industrial models.

Authenticity and purpose drive success — destinations that align their strengths with traveler passions create more meaningful, transformative, and sustainable tourism experiences.

Avoid the “destination beige” trap — imitating other places leads to commodification and price competition; distinctiveness and storytelling build long-term value.

Advocacy is the new metric of success — passionate travelers and local storytellers become authentic ambassadors, helping destinations build resilience and lasting relationships.

High-Yield Tourism

68 Circular Road #02-01

Singapore 049422

Email: hello@highyieldtourism.com

 

Š Chameleon Strategies

Terms of Use

Cookie Policy

Privacy Policy

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.