Kevin Millington and Alison Burgh head up Acorn Tourism.

Kevin founded Acorn in 1999 when he was working across the Middle East and tracking tourism trends for the UNWTO’s Tourism Vision 2020. Three years later Alison joined him bringing her research, international events and promotions experience. She started to build the business in the UK while Kevin was working in Saudi Arabia and together, they established the limited company in 2002.

Since then, they’ve worked on all of Acorn Tourism’s 320+ projects and advise clients across the UK and worldwide, supported by a vibrant and committed team and a vast network of specialist experts.

Our team is dedicated to ensuring the successful and timely delivery of our projects. We are always here to assist you, regardless of who you usually liaise with, or if you simply want to learn more about our team.  

Below is a summary of Kevin and Alison’s experience. We can explain far more about how we can share our expertise with you, so do call or email us at any time!

Kevin Millington has developed an international reputation for tracking tourism in destinations and measuring its economic, social and environmental impacts.  Having completed a Computer Science degree followed up by a masters in Tourism Studies, he was determined to put the two together to make a real difference in a sector that is poorly measured, not just in developing countries, but also in developed ones too.

Heading out to Africa, and living for a while in Uganda, Kevin worked with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) and other agencies such as the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme on a wide range of studies aimed at assisting with the development and measurement of tourism across the region, including Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen.  During this period, he regularly presented at UN Tourism statistics seminars in Africa and the Middle East.

In 2007 Kevin was contacted by the Falkland Islands Tourist Board to establish a system for measuring tourism in the islands and assess its economic impact.  Having worked closely with UN Tourism on their Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) project, he was well versed with its methodology, and set up the first TSA for the Falklands, and continued to establish Tourism Satellite Accounts in over 15 other countries, in particular specialising in small islands.  Kevin has since become a regular consultant to the Tourist Board assisting with the development of tourism in the Falklands, working on a wide range of projects including their tourism development strategies, marketing and branding, development and implementation of an accommodation grading scheme and a green tourism assessment scheme.

In 2010 Kevin spotted the need for destinations to have a tool specifically for tracking their tourism sectors, and subsequently set up T-Stats, an online system for destinations to measure what is happening in their cities, regions and countries.  The system, operated by his company T-Stats Solutions Limited, is used by destinations across the UK, and in countries in Africa and the Americas.

Today, Kevin continues to combine his statistical experience with a rich career assisting countries with tourism strategy, marketing and branding.  To date he has worked and travelled in 97 countries, and always enjoy a new challenge!

Alison Burgh’s passion for sustainable tourism began when she researched the impacts of tourism on women in Kenya’s coastal communities for her university dissertation. Since then, she’s worked in the tourism and hospitality sector, honed her consumer research skills with the Consumers’ Associations in London, Hong Kong, Penang and Sydney, and produced multi-million-dollar international music events, including putting Nelson Mandela on stage at Wembley Stadium in 1990. By 2002, she was ready to settle in the Sussex countryside, learn to row and use the breadth of her experience to build Acorn Tourism.

Working with destination managers, entrepreneurs and funding agencies, Alison shares her market insights and engagement skills to develop community and audience-led strategies and create visitor experiences that build destination brands and marketing content. She has helped emerging countries such as Guyana become award-winning sustainable destinations. As a tourism expert with the CBI for 10 years, she provides SMEs in developing countries with niche market insights to help them diversify their tourism offer. Her work with protected landscapes, country and urban parks looks at how tourism can deliver environmental and community benefits as well as financial sustainability.

In 2021, Alison took on the role of Sustainability Lead for the Tourism Management Institute (TMI) with the intention of supporting the sustainable development of the UK tourism industry. So far, she has developed a sustainability working group, published sustainability policy documents, launched an extensive sustainability resource library, and organised several popular online discussion events for members to share best practices in the industry.

As a Director of Blogilicious.com and UK representative for Green Destinations and Associate Director of thinkingplace, Alison keeps her finger on the pulse of destination tracking, placemaking, sustainable development influencer and content marketing. She is an experienced team leader and a great believer in bringing together innovative teams with diverse skills to ensure her clients benefit from a wealth of shared experience.