The destination‐management organisation and the integrative destination‐marketing process

A main function of destination‐management organisations (DMOs) is that of being responsible for marketing their destinations. Many destinations involve stakeholders of different kinds. DMOs often have modest resources, and this creates a challenge: how should the DMO manage their marketing activities and achieve an outcome that benefits both the individual stakeholder and the destination? This study describes how DMOs can mobilise resources among the stakeholders and identifies the processes leading to integrated destination marketing. Basing our conclusions on a case study, we find that DMOs need to develop both pragmatic and moral legitimacy in order to develop integrated destination marketing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Web‐based destination marketing systems: assessing the critical factors for management and implementation

The Web‐based destination marketing system (DMS) has been widely used as a distribution channel and marketing tool by destination marketing organisations (DMOs) at different levels in the promotion and management of tourism destinations. However, successful Web marketing requires a systematic approach in understanding key factors supporting the management and implementation of the DMS both from business and technical perspectives. The purpose of this study is to assess the critical factors of the Web‐based DMS used by DMOs in the USA on the following five areas: website function design, website promotion, Website‐performance measurement, Web‐marketing impact assessment and organisation technology environment. Discussions of the study results and implications for Internet destination marketing and management are also provided. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Destination management plans – a new approach to managing destinations in England: evidence from Milton Keynes

Within a new political and economic context, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) across England are expected to facilitate a more holistic and inclusive approach to destination management and provide core leadership functions, rather than being solely responsible for the marketing and development of destinations. Destination Management Plans (DMPs) are an expression of a government-mandated, current policy-driven approach to guiding the work of private-led DMOs. These DMOs are being challenged to achieve a more sustainable level of performance in times of decreasing state funding. Building on the scarce literature surrounding this new approach to managing destinations, this paper looks into how an emerging destination has approached the development of such a plan in practice. The paper examines the case of Milton Keynes and its local destination management structure, the collaborative approach to policy development and the resultant DMP. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of the key aims of the plan and their relevance to comparable emerging destinations, which are developing DMPs.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of destination marketing organisations' websites: evidence from China

Despite the extensive use of the Internet as a marketing tool by Chinese destination marketing organisations (DMOs), few studies have been conducted to measure the effectiveness of Chinese DMOs' websites. This study attempted to fill the gap by constructing a conceptual website evaluation model consisting of five dimensions of information, communication, transaction, relationship and technical merit. The proposed framework was tested to evaluate the effectiveness of each of the dimensions of 31 Chinese Provincial Tourism Administrations' (PTAs) websites. The results indicated that overall, the PTAs in China were not using their websites effectively. Among the five dimensions, transaction and relationship dimensions were the weakest areas of Chinese PTAs' websites. Great variation exists in the website effectiveness among different provinces. Suggestions and implications were provided and discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Destination competitiveness through the lens of brand positioning: the case of Australia's Sunshine Coast

The purpose of the paper is to provide a collaborative practitioner/academic interpretation of a destination's competitiveness through the lens of brand positioning in the domestic short break drive market. A 173 item questionnaire, which was mailed to a systematic random sample of 3000 households in the target market, attracted a 17% useable response. The paper compares how one destination, the Sunshine Coast, is positioned in its most important market, in relation to the brand identity intended by the destination marketing organisation (DMO). Key constructs were brand salience, brand associations and brand resonance. The Sunshine Coast was found to hold a leadership position in the minds of consumers, and the results indicated a strong level of congruence between actual market perceptions and the brand identity intended by the DMO. There were strong associations between brand salience, brand associations and brand resonance. The findings provided the destination of interest with both a measure of past marketing effectiveness as well as positive indicators of future performance. The paper represents collaboration between a tourism practitioner and a tourism academic, and attempts a contribution to the emerging literature on destination competitiveness through the lens of positioning theory.     

Tourism and development challenges in the least developed countries: the case of The Gambia

Despite some recognition of the role of destination marketing organisations (DMOs) in crisis management, limited attention has focused on the role of DMOs in crisis events, and in particular their role in managing knowledge across diverse stakeholder groups and domains. This theoretical paper attempts to address this deficiency by synthesising knowledge management and tourism crisis management literature, to outline the potential role of DMOs in managing knowledge across boundaries during crises. Carlile's [(2004). Transferring, translating, and transforming: An integrative framework for managing knowledge across boundaries. Organization Science, 15(5), 555–568] work on boundary spanning is used to consider potential organisational and management issues for DMOs dealing with crisis events and how they should be managed. This paper argues that because of the role and nature of DMOs, they should play an important role as knowledge spanners/brokers to transfer, translate and transform knowledge to stakeholders. The paper concludes with future research avenues related to knowledge management, DMOs and crises.     

What does the consumer want from a DMO website? A study of US and Canadian tourists' perspectives

Destination marketing organisations (DMOs) are facing intriguing challenges to provide quality information online in an era of information overload. Insufficient knowledge of tourist's online information preferences and search behaviour has hindered them from effective information management. This research aimed to examine consumers' perspectives of the information role of the DMOs and their preferences and attitudes towards what constitute engaging and relevant Web contents and functionalities for a DMO website. The results suggested that tourists' preference of information content varied across the different levels of DMO websites (country, state/province and city). In addition, the study revealed that travellers' information needs and behaviour change over the entire information consumption process, which include the before, during and post‐trip period. Implications for DMOs were discussed at the end. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards a Framework for Food Tourism as an Element of Destination Marketing

Local and regional food holds great potential to contribute to sustainable competitiveness in a destination. An analysis of the literature and promotional material of South African and key international destinations, however, indicate that the contribution of food to sustainable tourism and the marketing of destinations has received very little attention globally, as well as in South Africa. A framework and guidelines for developing and implementing food tourism could enable destination marketers and entrepreneurs to optimise the tourism potential of local and regional food. To this end a food tourism destination-marketing framework was conceptualised, which was based on the findings of a South African situation analysis and international trends and best practices. The South African situation analysis entailed an empirical investigation among regional and provincial destination marketing organisations to determine the current status and future potential and food tourism initiatives as a key component of destination marketing in South Africa. To support the food tourism destination marketing framework, two key tools were developed, namely TOURPAT (a tourism and culinary atlas linked to a geospatial database) and PAT (a product potential and attractiveness tool). The framework and tools were tested in a South African destination and provided the stakeholders with mechanisms to develop and implement food tourism. This paper outlines the key components and an evaluation of the framework and tools that have been developed. Guidelines and recommendations for the development, packaging and marketing of local and regional foods are postulated. Proposals for future research are also outlined.     

Synergies in destination image management: a case study and conceptualisation

This paper addresses the question of how operators and destination authorities work within a destination region, illustrating a method by which the problems resulting from different geographical scales and objectives of business units can be tackled through co‐operative marketing within a strong destination image. Following a review of the literature, a case study covering the research underpinning a cooperative marketing programme involving hotels in Port Douglas, Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) is presented. The research methodology is outlined. The policy implications of the findings for the State Tourist Organisation and for organisations involved in destination image management are considered, and a conceptual model of cooperative marketing at the destination level is proposed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Testing the impact of a promotional video on destination image change: application of China as a tourism destination

This study empirically examines the potential effects of a promotional video on the image change of China as a travel destination. The analysis is based on an experimental study conducted among young, international short‐term employees in the USA. Despite positive changes in almost all the destination attributes as a result of watching the promotional video, the structure of the image constructs remains fairly stable, providing critical insights on the potential role of publicity campaigns in affecting destination images. Results of the study reveal that China's image consists of mixed and often contrasting representations, especially the polarity of modernisation and progress versus nature and history. It was found that the dominant factor affecting the respondents' behavioural intentions was the cultural and nature tourism dimension. Although other image dimensions exhibit influence as well, findings of this study suggest that perceived value should be a strategic focus in promoting China as a desirable travel destination, in addition to culture and nature tourism. This paper ends with conclusions and implications for both research on destination image and destination marketing in China. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does distributed leadership have a place in destination management organisations? A policy-makers perspective

Within an increasingly networked environment and recent transitions in the landscape of funding for destination management organisations (DMOs) and destinations, pooling knowledge and resources may well be seen as a prerequisite to ensuring the long-term sustainability of reshaped, yet financially constrained DMOs facing severe challenges to deliver value to destinations, visitors and member organisations. Distributed Leadership (DL) is a recent paradigm gaining momentum in destination research as a promising response to these challenges. Building on the scarce literature on DL in a DMO context, this paper provides a policy-makers’ perspective into the place of DL in reshaped DMOs and DMOs undergoing transformation and explores current challenges and opportunities to the enactment and practice of DL. The underpinned investigation used in-depth, semi-structured interviews with policy-makers from VisitEngland following an interview agenda based on the DMO Leadership Cycle. Policy-makers within VisitEngland saw a multitude of opportunities for DMOs with regards to DL, but equally, they emphasised challenges acting as barriers to realising the potential benefits of introducing a DL model to DMOs as a response to uncertainty in the funding landscape.     

Film-induced tourist motivations. The case of Seville (Spain)

Tourists' attraction to filmed sites has increased destination marketing organisations (DMOs) interest in film-induced tourism. Seville, Spain, has been the setting of many national and international film productions. Film tourism research has focused on impacts, travel preferences and destination choice, but there is a lack of research on motivations of film tourism. As a consequence, DMO actions in film tourism are often developed ad hoc, in an unplanned and opportunistic way without understanding the phenomenon. This research tries to fill this gap by focusing on film tourism in Seville in order to identify film tourists' motivations. Results identify film tourism activity and find five motivations of the film-induced tourist in Seville: film site experiences, fantasy, novelty, touring the film and personal film-location connection. Results show films add something valuable to destination experience (as a secondary or tertiary attraction). Destination managers should consider novelty factor as an element to enhance tourist experience, especially for non-European ones as well as for female tourists and tourist above 25 years, to motivate a slightly positive site experience.     

Destination marketing,accommodation taxes,and mandated tourism promotional expenditures: may be time to reconsider

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) play an important role in the destination marketing matrix. As a rule, most of the funds that support the marketing efforts of these organisations come from a pool of state legislated accommodation tax funds that have been collected from visitors to the destination. This paper questions the mandated use of these tax revenues for destination marketing, noting that for many communities such expenditures may fail to represent their best usage.     

Collaborative marketing for the sustainable development of community-based tourism enterprises: a reconciliation of diverse perspectives

ABSTRACT

Collaborative marketing for the sustainable development of community-based tourism enterprises (CBTEs) is subject to diverse stakeholder perspectives and a complex mix of factors determining collaboration success. This research investigates a framework supporting stakeholder collaborations in marketing CBTEs for sustainable development. The proposed framework is an outcome of the process of reconciling divergent perspectives in CBTE collaborative marketing using a knowledge co-production approach. Particularly, knowledge interactions between researchers and research participants to achieve a synthesis of perspectives in developing a collaborative marketing approach for the sustainable development of CBTEs in Vietnam were investigated. The knowledge interaction occurred in the form of a workshop that included 15 CBTE stakeholders and the first author and was undertaken in the village of Triem Tay (Vietnam). Through the workshop, a collaborative marketing framework for CBTE sustainability was identified. The framework stated the reasons for the divergence of perspectives on CBTE collaborative marketing for sustainable development: limited understanding of involved stakeholders; individuality in collective efforts; stakeholder self-righteousness; and contextual factors. Accordingly, the framework identified four attributes supporting stakeholders collaborations in marketing CBTEs for sustainable development: improved and right-directed perspectives of CBTE stakeholders; a set of rules governing stakeholder interventions; government involvement in CBTE collaborative marketing in the roles of an inspirer and an arbitrator; and the transformation from successful tour operators to social entrepreneurship to facilitate CBTE collaborative marketing. The contribution of this study lies in the potential of a knowledge co-production approach to be utilised in collaborative works involving multiple perspectives. Additionally, the study provides insights into the discussion of community-based tourism collaboration.     

The impact of social capital on tourism technology adoption for destination marketing

The purpose of the present study is to examine the impact of social capital on destination marketing organisations' (DMOs) technology adoption, especially Web 2.0. In other words, among the variety of factors that might influence individuals' or organisations' technology adoption, this study suggests that the concept of social capital is an additional important factor that might influence DMOs' technology adoption. Social networks (size of network, tie strength, and bridging and bonding ties), trust, norms, and associational activity were chosen as the components of social capital. The results revealed that, with the exception of trust and tie strength, most components of social capital exerted significant effects on DMOs' levels of technology adoption.     

At‐destination visitor information search and venue decision strategies

Numerous studies have been conducted on consumers' information search prior to arrival at a destination. This study attempts to continue to fill a research gap focusing on travellers' information search behaviour for services not only before the trip but in transit to the destination and once at a destination. In particular, the research explores service‐related decisions before and during a trip, the sources of information utilised, which include locals residing at a destination, and how demographic and trip purpose characteristics influence decision‐making. Using the results of this study, practitioners and academics alike can design effective strategies for marketing to travellers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic measures of tourism yield: what markets to target?

An understanding of the yield potential of different source markets and segments can underpin destination marketing by both public and private sector organisations. The standard yield measure relates to expenditure injected into a destination from different market segments. This measure has several limitations, which are discussed in the paper. With the increasing sophistication of economic models such as computable general equilibrium, models, it is now feasible to develop new and more useful measures of tourism yield, which directly measure the gains to different stakeholders. Several economy‐wide impact measures of yield are developed and contrasted for selected Australian inbound tourism markets. The measures produce conflicting signals for public and private sector tourism marketers and planners. The reward from further research in developing and operationalising yield measures is more informed policy‐making by destination managers in respect of destination marketing and new product development, resulting in greater economic gains from inbound tourism. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exploration of the effects of past experience and tourist involvement on destination loyalty formation

Gaining the loyalty of visitors is one of the main challenges of destinations. Previous studies generally agree that satisfaction is the key driver of tourist loyalty. However, it is necessary to conduct a more thorough study of destination loyalty formation by exploring the role of other variables as direct antecedents of loyalty and as moderators of the satisfaction–loyalty relationship. With this in mind, this study examines the influences of two variables that are especially relevant in the study of consumer behaviour in tourism: past experience and involvement. The results obtained from a sample of 807 tourists visiting a destination in Spain suggest that (1) satisfaction and past experience have a significant influence on loyalty; (2) it is necessary to separately consider the two dimensions of loyalty (i.e. the intention to return to a destination and the intention to recommend it) to understand loyalty formation; and (3) past experience is a quasi-moderator variable as it directly influences tourist loyalty and moderates the satisfaction–loyalty relationship. The findings of this research may help managers make decisions about market segmentation and guide the marketing efforts to gain loyal tourists.