Storytelling used to be simple. Not long ago, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) were the primary source of destination promotion, but as a Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) study (including more than 327 DMOs) has reported, the top-down, broadcasting approach to storytelling is shifting toward consumer engagement. Today’s storytelling and content distribution is fragmented. DMOs face […]
Destination funding models: Can the tourism industry collaborate to solve its own funding challenges?
Where is next year’s budget coming from? Whether your destination marketing organization (DMO) receives public or private money, or a combination of the two, every destination needs financial stability in order to make their industry’s dreams come true. This is the second article in our two-part series on funding that examines destination funding models. In […]
Destination funding models: Can DMOs seek financial stability from their governments?
How comfortable do you feel about next year’s budget? Determining Cost and Revenue is a critical topic for today’s destination marketing organizations (DMOs), which are constantly looking for new ways to secure funding to remain competitive, but it can be difficult to gain sustainable, long-term funding. Reductions in budget due to changes in government or myriad […]
How to become a data-driven destination
Nothing makes the case for change more strongly than a reliable set of data applied to a problem. The digital age is awash with data, and today you and your marketing team can track every email opening, every booking and essentially every click your visitors give you. But all this data and insight won’t be […]
Destinations, technology and storytelling: Google’s “Beyond the Map” gives users an immersive Rio experience
Can you truly explore a destination through the internet? Having mapped the world with Google Earth and dabbled in advanced video and virtual reality (VR) storytelling through a mobile app, Google has brought us one step closer to full immersion with “Beyond the Map”, a virtual, guided tour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, released just […]
Growing nautical tourism niche provides lessons for destinations
Many destination marketers are seeking to define and optimize niche experiences to increase visitation from passionate travellers. A recent article at tourism-review.com highlights a clear example by describing a recent increase in nautical tourism in the Mediterranean Sea: “This improvement is due partly to the exceptional weather conditions of the summer season, partly to the […]
How destinations use data to better collaborate with industry and reach consumers
The use of big data has become pervasive across the world’s leading business organizations. Making data-driven decisions is essential to business planning, and our ability to search, share, curate, manage and analyze information is now more nuanced and complex than ever before. With so much valuable consumer data available, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) must become […]