About Us

Visitor experience and tourism consultants

Planning Solutions Consulting Limited are experts in visitor experiences.  As a visitor experience and tourism consultants we work across the tourism, leisure, recreation, heritage, environmental and regeneration sectors delivering a range of services from concept feasibility studies through to market assessments, operational reviews, option appraisals, sustainable destination management plans and business plans. Whether a project is large or small; a spark of an idea or a review of an existing business, we are dedicated to delivering results based on detailed research and creative thinking.   We work across the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Europe and have been providing robust and independent advisory services and supporting clients since 1995.

Added value

Our sister company Planning Solutions Limited has invested in operates a number of heritage centres, visitor attractions, watersports and high ropes activity offers, a hotel and microbrewery.  These include CONKERS Discovery Centre in the National Forest, the Cotswold Country Park and Beach, Kent Life Heritage Farm, Springfields Adventure Land, Vertigo Adventures (three branded high-ropes experiences), the Heritage Brewing Company and the Royal Esplanade Hotel.  From 2010 to 2022 they also managed the National Brewery Centre (formerly the Bass Museum).  We understand the opportunities and challenges involved in developing and managing a range of visitor, heritage, tourism and leisure businesses.  We find this direct operational experience bring a strong commercial realism to our work. Find out more about this direct operational experience here.

What can we do for you?

We offer realistic and robust advice, founded on experience, detailed market research, understanding the economic context and consultation with stakeholders. Working with big and small data is at the heart of what we do.  We work collaboratively with clients to gain a clear understanding of their business goals, issues they face and priorities in order to help them reach their potential – helping to support sustainable growth.  We offer a unique combination of management consultancy experience with direct operational expertise.   We work to build consensus and facilitate client learning as our work progresses.  Find out about our consultancy services.

Looking to the future

We live in unpredicatble times and there are key trends which will impact on the tourism and wider visitor experience sectors are linked to the climate and biodiversity emergencies, emerging technologies which will change the visitor experience and customer journey and changing demographics.   Now we face a further challenge ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and economic uncertainty.  We can help to ensure your organisation is ready to response to these trends which will throw up challenges, but will also present new opportunities.

 

Where we work

You can find us working across the UK and occasionally overseas:

  • Country parks, urban parks, forests and other recreation sites
  • Visitor attractions from discovery centres through to farm parks
  • Museums and heritage centres
  • Historic houses, castles, forts and walled gardens
  • Cathedrals, chapels and cemeteries
  • Hotels, campsites, lodge sites and static and touring parks
  • National Nature Reserves, SINCs, SSSIs and peatbogs 
  • National Parks
  • Residential activity centres, watersports centres and indoor climbing centres
  • Inland waterway from lakes through to rivers, canals and reserviours
  • Industrial sites from mill buildings through to mines and quarries
  • Coastal towns and marinas
  • Farms, country estates and vineyards
  • Cafes and restaurants (usually located in a visitor attraction, museum or country park)
  • Golf courses, driving ranges, retail parks, leisure centres, dry ski slopes, cinemas and indoor play centres

Our team

Our directors and co-founders, Kevin Brown and Richard Linington offer a personal and bespoke service, building the perfect team around each project. Our team includes specialists in research, financial modelling, economics, regeneration and all aspects of the operations of visitor attractions, high rope experiences, heritage centres, hotels and restaurants. Find out more about our team.