Thiago has deep knowledge of tourism marketing, plugged into the most innovative trends and with a view that stays connected to what the Brazilian and international trade actually needs. He moves through the world's largest tourism fairs and brings back insights and good practice from destinations and companies, to guide the Brazilian market with strategy, data and precision.
Consultant · Speaker · Strategist in tourism marketing for businesses and destinations
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
+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
232 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
- 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
- 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
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 19 Oct next up in 12 days 2026
Road 60+ 2026 São Paulo
Tendências e a Jornada do Viajante Maduro
São Paulo/SP Fórum de Turismo 60+ - 21 Oct in 14 days 2026
Encontro Técnico de Vendas em Turismo Social
Vender Turismo para Quem Ainda Não Conhece o Sesc RS
Porto Alegre/RS SESC RS - 22 Oct in 15 days 2026
BTM 2026
Quem Vende Preço, Compete. Quem Vende História, Converte
Fortaleza/CE Brazil Travel market - 12 Nov in 1 month 2026
Festuris Gramado 2026
Condução do Podcast Festuris Junto com Daniel Turbox e Richard Alves
Gramado/RS Festuris - 25 Nov in 2 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
What people say
Results are the conversation that keeps going after the project ends.
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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.
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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.
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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.
From the blog
Marketing content for tourism.
- Tourism Marketing
Top Tourism Trends in Brazil and Worldwide: Analysis and Outlook for the Travel Industry 2026 2030
Top Tourism Trends for 2026 – 2030: Analysis and outlook for the travel and tourism industry 2026 in Brazil…
- Tourism Marketing
Travel Context: the silent trend reshaping tourism marketing beyond niche and segment
Niche as a trend in tourism: where the strategic mistake begins. In recent years, the strategic discourse of tourism has consolidated the…
- Tourism Marketing
The Shadow Effect in Tourism
Why do extraordinary destinations stay invisible, and how do they win strategic independence? What the shadow effect is and why…
Frequently asked questions
What people ask me before hiring
Who is Thiago Akira?
I am a marketing and digital positioning consultant, speaker and professor, focused on tourism. I work with tourism businesses, destinations, regional governance bodies, public tourism departments, convention bureaux, trade associations and the Sistema S network, across Brazil. I live between Campo Grande (MS) and São Paulo. I started in 2002 with a web design company and entered tourism in 2012, through an inbound tour operator in Bonito (MS).
What services do you offer?
Six areas, all built on the same reasoning: consulting and mentoring; marketing planning; diagnostics; talks and event curation; reputation crisis management; and custom projects with artificial intelligence. All of them start from the same place: understanding the market and defining positioning before spending anything on tactics.
What is the difference between hiring a talk and hiring consulting?
A talk builds thinking at scale, at an event, a training programme or a multi-city circuit, in blocks of 1 to 4 hours. Consulting goes into your specific problem, with diagnosis, direction and an action plan. They are different doors into the same reasoning, and it is common for people to meet my work on stage and hire me for consulting later.
Who has hired your work?
Among others: Sebrae, the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, Braztoa, TAP Air Portugal, O Boticário, Goiás Turismo, Fundtur-MS, Paraty CVB, Sixt, Bonito Way, Rio da Prata, Estância Mimosa, Circuito do Ouro and Anseditur.
Memberships and certifications
