About Us - Red Clay Advisory

The Red Clay Story

I got the idea for Red Clay in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, during my stay in Europe – I always thought of home while in Scotland, and the sense of feeling the red earth (clay) always gave me a sense of nostalgia. Clay is known for its moldable properties, and I hope that by moulding the various elements of the tourism system, we are able to contribute to transforming tourism in West Africa and move towards harnessing its true potential.

We are proud that in the time since our inception, we have become the leading tourism consultancy practice in Nigeria and across West Africa, and our work in destination development, management, policy advisory and research areas has been recognized by the private and public sectors. We have worked on single-site and multi-site tourism projects and masterplans, working with governments in translating masterplans into implementable goals and advising them on their tourism policies, using research to provide insights and evidence.

As we look to the future, we hope to contribute to tourism education and the professionalization of our industry which is a real need, to ensure the tourism strategies, masterplans and implementation plans are actualized. We hope to be able to support in a real way, West Africa’s sustainable tourism development.

Adun.

Our Team

Adunola Okupe, CA PhD, Chief Executive Officer

Adun is a leading researcher and expert in the fields of tourism, sustainable cultural practices and leadership for societal change. She is the Chief Executive Officer at Red Clay, the leading tourism advisory practice in West Africa, the Executive Director at The Sahara Centre, a not-for-profit focused on advancing socio-cultural sustainability in Nigeria, and a former lecturer of sustainability and strategy at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of socio-cultural leadership, tourism and leisure studies, and the impacts these have on the sustainable development agenda. She has over ten (10) years of research, advisory and work experience in private, commercial and grant-funded infrastructure, tourism and sustainable development projects in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, and has advised on global policy issues in Europe, Asia, and Africa. She has also provided tourism development advisory services, worked on feasibility studies, implemented master plans and evaluated the economic, social, and environmental impacts of sustainable tourism and urban planning and development.

Adun holds a first-class honors degree in Business Economics from the University of Keele, an M.Sc. in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and a PhD in Strategic Leadership in the Tourism Industry from the University of Surrey, completing her postdoctoral program at the University of Edinburgh. She is also a qualified chartered accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, a fellow of The Higher Education Academy and a member of the Academy of International Business.

She is on the board of Open House Lagos, Kadara Heritage Foundation, a member of the Legacy1995 foundation and the Nigeria Field Society. She has been a reviewer for the Journal of Cleaner Production, and regularly contributes to industry reports and magazines and speaks on tourism and hospitality in Africa at international conferences and summits. In addition to her teaching, research and advisory work, she is also involved in community service and philanthropy.

Adun also offers business strategy sessions to executives, entrepreneurs and MSMEs in the tourism and creative industries. Click here to find out more

Ayodeji Adeloju, Research Analyst

Ayodeji works as our Research Analyst at Red Clay. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography from Obafemi Awolowo University and a Master’s Degree in Geographic Information Science (GIS) from the University of Lagos.

Ayo provides support in the design, execution and evaluation of Red Clay’s projects and research programmes, including literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, data integration and analysis. He also monitors and writes on relevant global, regional and local socio-economic and political trends relating to travel, tourism and hospitality in Africa.

His core areas of interest include research, graphic design, data analysis and GIS analysis.

Chukwuemeka Smart, Research Manager

‘Emeka holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Lagos and has a solid educational background in contemporary urban planning fields such as urban design, sustainable development, tourism planning, recreational planning, transportation studies, housing and social advocacy. Prior to venturing into travel, tourism and hospitality research, he tutored Geography and worked in the geotechnical engineering sub-sector as a soil laboratory technician for over 4 years, during which he nurtured a passion for the built environment.

He has over 5 years of experience in research and data analysis in the tourism, hospitality and urban planning sectors, and has successfully managed and delivered Red Clay’s projects and programmes. He works as our Research Manager to interface with clients, coordinate the project team’s activities, and contribute to business proposals and business development processes for the organization.

He loves to travel and is keen on exploring the beauty of Africa – its people, food, lifestyle, natural landscape and man-made wonders and works in his capacity as a researcher and analyst to discover, and in turn, propagate the insights he gains to people across the world through writing.

Wuraola Alabi, Business Development Analyst

Wuraola is our Business Development Analyst at Red Clay. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree first degree in Tourism and Hospitality from the Federal University of Abeokuta, and has over 3 years of experience in tourism and hospitality development and management and has a keen interest in the customer service elements in the industry. She contributes to the development of the business, setting up processes, and identifying opportunities for the organization.

She also contributes to the development and implementation of business development strategies to improve Red Clay’s profitability, including identifying potential business opportunities to pursue, researching prospective clients in target markets and attending conferences and industry events.

We also have a strong network of independent contractors who work with us as consultants and researchers on our projects. If you would like to work with us, please fill the Careers at Red Clay Form or send an email to tourism@redclayadvisory.com