03 Mar Who is in charge ? Tourism Teamwork

Tourism is a team activity – it requires many different actors, each with their own specialty – to create great tourism experiences. In each tourism destination, there are many players, contributing unique services, acting in concert, but acting independently, on the tourism team.

The way tourism teams work in destinations is fascinating for a number of reasons. I’ll explore some of the unique elements of these teams in coming posts but today I want to focus on the question – who is in charge of the team ?

Of course, the answer is – No one is “in charge” of a tourism destination team. 

In many destinations, there is the suggestion that the Destination Marketing/Management Company – whether it is the national tourist office or the convention and visitor bureau is – “in charge” of tourism in the destination. It is true that some DMOs have “carrots” to encourage behaviors, including grants and other incentives; and others have “sticks”, like certification requirements or legislation for specific standards, but even so – in general – their ability to direct action is limited. That is not to say they are powerless amd the best of these organizations can have an extremely important role in influencing team performance, but few have any direct authority over the members of the team.

Recognizing no-one is in charge is a powerful insight when implementing sustainability in destinations. Recognizing that no-one is directly in charge is useful because it helps us to move from a “command and control” management perspective to a cooperative and collaborative governance model.