Wild sage was once carried by ancient cultures for clarity and protection on journeys.

Our work rests on a simple belief: tourism is one of the most consequential tools available for building economic opportunity, sustaining culture, and shaping how communities experience their own places. Approached with intention, it can create lasting prosperity. Approached carelessly, it can undermine the very conditions that make places worth visiting.

The perspective behind Wild Sage comes from long-term, on-the-ground work across very different contexts, from post-crisis and post-conflict economies to remote regions, fast-growing destinations, and global capitals.

In each case, tourism played a central role for practical reasons: it moved faster than traditional industry, created livelihoods with relatively low barriers to entry, and allowed communities to build opportunity from what they had while shaping what came next.

Across these environments, one lesson held consistently. Tourism works when it is grounded in local reality and when the communities in which it happens feel its benefits.

Wild Sage operates at the intersection of advisory work, research, and thought leadership and innovation. Advisory work applies those insights in real time. Research deepens understanding of how places are experienced, perceived, and valued. Thought leadership and innovation provides a shared language and a disciplined way of thinking about strategy.

We typically work with leaders and organizations at moments of growth, transition, or reinvention, where decisions made today will shape places for years to come. Engagements take many forms, from competitive proposals to long-term advisory relationships, and each is shaped by the context in which it occurs.

The work is most effective with leaders willing to engage with uncertainty, weigh competing priorities, and take responsibility for how tourism shapes their communities over time.

Our team has worked with Destination Canada, Travel Alberta, Destination DC, the US National Park Service, Visit Anchorage, Destinations International, the Egypt Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities, the Jordan Tourism Board, the Royal Commission for AlUla, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism, South African Tourism, Geneva Tourism, Tourism Fiji, and others across 50+ countries.

Includes work delivered by team members in previous roles.

Affiliations: Destinations International · City Nation Place