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 /

Is this a good brand ? An important question but almost always asked in the wrong context.  "Is this a good brand" almost always asks for a judgement on a logo or a tagline or a creative execution.  Brand is far more than a logo or a tagline. Destinations need to focus on what creates their brand image...

07 January, 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 /

Surf City USA really gets sustainable tourism. The folks at Visit Huntington Beach realized that their long term success meant protecting the environment, and celebrating the culture of the iconic SoCal Surf City while ensuring the visitor economy remained vibrant. In other words - they recognized the importance of sustainable tourism and took an active role in promoting within the destination. To support industry and community adoption of sustainable tourism they produced some great materials that explain sustainability and provide action tips to visitors, business owners and the community. To get the...

26 January, 2014 /

Most destinations marketers are familiar with the principles of target marketing. Targeting the right message to move a specific group of consumers through the buying process is standard operating practice at most DMOs. It is surprising how few DMOs use the same principles of targeting their message to specific groups within the destination. Often the communication with these stakeholder groups is “one size fits all”. Of course, “one size fits all” normally means that no one is getting what they need. This point was made clear to me during a...

12 August, 2013 /

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the key drivers of sustainable tourism. The tourism system involves many actors all working to deliver a customer experience. There is little in the way of "top down, command and control" in tourism.  So - without the active participation of companies - and the managers that run those companies - it is difficult to imagine the tourism system becoming more sustainable. In a recent study led by Diana Chan Yu, we examined the drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in hotels in China....

01 June, 2013 /

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council is currently seeking public input on a set of criteria for destinations aiming for sustainability. The criteria - designed to be the "minimum" set of activities  - will challenge many destinations and hopefully spur them on to greater efforts. The criteria presented by GSTC create a great - and comprehensive - list of things every destination should be thinking about to ensure that the long-term benefits of tourism are realised. With so many of us so busy on the challenges of the "small stuff" in the  inbox this list...

01 June, 2012 /
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