Destinations, where sustainable tourism is thriving, have a range of programs that contribute to the sustainability of the destination community. It is important to note that these programs aren’t just activities that the Destination Management Organization runs – they can be initiated by a range of organizations (some of which may not even consider themselves part of the tourism Industry. During some recent analysis of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Destination Criteria I conducted with Jennifer Romanchek, we identified the following programs that represent a foundation for destination-based sustainable...

16 July, 2021 /

Sustainable tourism management requires careful planning according to our recent study of the GSTC Destination Criteria. Core to sustainable tourism planning is the development of a Destination Management Strategy designed to support the long-term sustainability of the destination community. These strategies should be: Suited to the scale of the destinationDeveloped with stakeholders and publicly availableBased on sustainability principles andAlign with other sustainability plans in the community. So what things should destinations be including in their plans? Our review of the destination criteria suggest that plans should be in place to: Protect the...

10 January, 2021 /

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 ?...

03 March, 2019 /

From a marketing perspective, the answer to “where do I start?” is always with your target market. For many small tourism businesses that can be a hard thing to do – after all – your product is right there in front of you – and it is beautiful. Over summer I had the great pleasure of visiting tourism product in the area of San Juan de Arama in the Meta region of Colombia. As the ink dries on the peace treaty that ends the war in Colombia, the people...

01 October, 2016 /

"A brand is no-longer what we tell consumers it is. It is what consumers tell each other." Scott Cook - Founder of Intuit. While Cook's experience as a software developer may seem far removed from tourism, this insight is having profound impact on Destination Marketing. At a time when destination branding is becoming more important, there is a greater realization that branding is not just a function of "Promotion" - great advertising, PR, online advertising, etc -  another of the 4 P's of marketing is taking its place in...

26 May, 2015 /

So what do the destinations of the future look like ? It's a great question. Too often it seems that as destinations become more popular - they become less appealing. We love our destinations to death. That is why it is great that DMO managers are stepping up and engaging in the planning, developing and management of their destinations. No-longer are DMOs just promoting their destinations - they are actively involved in "product development" and "destination experience". DestinationNext, DMAI's strategic planning initiative, highlights DMOs important role in creating the destination communities of the...

20 May, 2015 /

Sustainability and Social Responsibility are are the driving force behind the Top 5 trends in restaurants in the U.S. according to the National Restaurant Association. The top food trends, according to the  National Restaurant Association Culinary Forecast 2015 are locally sourced meat, seafood and produce and environmental sustainability. Why do DMO managers need to know this ? Because this trend is helping them meet their goals of improving the economic and social well being of their destination communities.  We are all becoming familiar with infographics touting the economic benefits of tourism....

13 May, 2015 /

Seth Godin nailed it (again) with this short post. In a couple of words he describes the reason for massive changes in destination marketing and management. Marketing used to be ...

03 September, 2014 /

At a recent conference one of the speakers reminded the audience that tourism takes place at the acquiescence of the community. I thought the statement was eloquent and expressed an important idea...

10 August, 2014 /

While I am committed to promoting sustainability in tourism, I am sure that we can do better. Sure - I know many destinations are struggling just to ensure that tourism is not a destructive force in their communities.But just not being bad isn't good enough...

17 March, 2014 /
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