RESEARCH BRIEF Responsible Tourism Seven Women is a development organisation that has economically and socially empowered over 5000 women out of poverty through literacy, skills training and income generation over the past 10 years (www.sevenwomen.org). One of the ways in which, seven women has been able to develop into a sustainable organisation, is to have supporting businesses which bring tourists to the centre. Hands On Development is a Tour company that has been created by the Founder of Seven Women. It leads immersion tours into the hearts and lives of the Nepalese people and gives access to some very unique experiences such as visiting a slum, a fair trade factory, and organisations focussing on a number of different issues including trafficking and Fred Hollows eye hospital. Hands On Development Tours gives participants an opportunity to have life enriching travel experiences that are off the tourist trail and transformative and empowering for both the locals and participants (handsondevelopment.com.au). Hands on development tours visit seven women as part of their itinerary where people participate in cooking classes led by the women, fair trade prayer flag making classes, and basic Nepali for travellers’ classes. The visit to seven women is an example of how Hands on Tours create connection and opportunities of empowerment as the women build confidence in skills such as training and teaching visitors, which prepare them for employment in areas of hospitality and manufacturing. The tours have been running for 5 years. Initially the Founder had students in mind, but as the tours are open to everyone, a lot of middle-aged women were applying. The target market are now two groups including (1) Middle aged women (45- 60) and (2) Students (18-30). Hands on Development needs your help to understand the target market (their needs and desires) to properly target the tours with effective marketing materials, copy and a new website that capture what these two main groups are looking for. A marketing strategy is also needed. The tours are targeted towards females. Some of the questions include: 1. How should these tours be marketed effectively to these target groups? By understanding our target markets better, we are able to know what they are looking for in their travel experiences. 2. How do we capture the essence of the tours and communicate clearly what they are about in our marketing materials? Eg. What part of the tours is appealing for the different age groups (making a difference, hands on learning, embassy visits, world heritage sites and tourist attractions, Chitwan national park –animals)? 3. Is there anything they fear that is holding them back? What considerations do the different groups make when they look for travel experiences, which determines their choice? Eg. Accommodation, food, local transport, safety etc? 4. By analysing already existing marketing materials of the tour company (including website, facebook, instagram, brochures etc) how can we suggest improvements after understanding the different marketing messages for the two different markets. Currently there is confusion about what this tour actually is and what type of tourism it falls under. It’s not adventure travel, and it’s not Contiki style travel. At the moment the tours are promoted as study tours/ cultural immersions- but they are a lot more as they cover a wide variety of activities. Hands On Development would like to clarify this and position itself in the market through this research project. The data collected in this survey should be both quantitative and qualitative to enhance the understanding of the data collected and all questions focussed on finding out more about the target markets hopes and desires/ barriers to purchase and how to market effectively. For this reason, an analysis of the current tour marketing will be needed. Regards, Stephanie Woollard Email: [email protected]  Mobile phone: 0401288056 CEO and Founder of Hands On Development Tours and Seven Women