Destination marketing is undergoing a revolutionary change. For many, mass advertising fades in relevance as word-of-mouth promotion moves front-and-centre and DMOs begin to manage experiences. Your visitors and residents influence people who trust them by sharing their travel experiences in vast online networks. You can learn a lot from the millions of conversations out there. […]
Destination Marketing Strategy
Who’s doing niche tourism? These 5 destinations are doubling down on specific visitor passions
An experience made for everyone is often nothing special to anyone. “Why should I visit?” is one question your destination needs to address in today’s increasingly competitive tourism market. A niche marketing strategy can connect your destination and its community to passionate, loyal visitors who appreciate the experiences that only your place can provide. Without […]
5 inspiring stories from destinations making a difference
Our team is always looking for bright lights in the destination marketing industry – the stories that keep us optimistic and excited about the future of travel, tourism, destination marketing, and the way destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are improving people’s lives. Readers of this blog are watching too. After reading one of our articles about […]
Finally, sentiment analysis lets DMOs measure word of mouth on an undreamed-of scale
A destination’s brand is made of two things: the experiences a place offers and the stories people tell about them. What if you could see everything people are saying about their experiences in your destination, positive or negative? Start with the last 1,000,000 conversations or so. Sound far-fetched? It isn’t. New technology made to collect […]
The E.U.’s new data protection law hits May 25
A new set of requirements for data protection and privacy are fully enforced starting May 25. No matter where your destination is, this law could affect you, because the internet knows no borders. The European Union (E.U.) created the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to reset how personal data and, ultimately, personal privacy are managed. […]
Invitation to collaborate: What is the financial impact of your DMO’s digital earned media?
You are invited to help build Potential on Investment (POI) 2.0 as destinations begin to answer the question: “What is the financial value of social media and digital activity on earned media channels?” What is POI? POI is a formula that destination marketers can use to measure the potential financial impact of a DMO’s social […]
Ottawa Tourism CEO: “We would become obsolete” without modern strategic planning
When Michael Crockatt joined Ottawa Tourism as President & CEO in 2016, the city was on the verge of a big moment. Ottawa was about to become the epicentre of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. Tourism was expected to increase by 6.0% in overnight visits as a result. It was an ideal time for […]
Survive the Facebook algorithm and thrive with timeless destination marketing strategy
“… you can expect to see more from your friends, family and groups. As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media.” -Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO at Facebook In January 2018, Facebook announced a significant change to its News Feed algorithm. The social media company says […]
Working in isolation is risky. Here’s why Tourism Calgary built strategy and brand with a team-wide, collaborative process.
Destination marketers who develop strategy and brand in isolation risk not reaching their full potential. Successful destination marketing requires alignment and support. When teams work independently in silos, resources are squandered, years of hard work sit in someone’s drawer collecting dust, and the risk of ideas falling flat at implementation is high. Community and industry […]
A destination marketing year in review: Our most-read articles of 2017
As the year comes to a close, we look back at the trends and articles that were of most interest to you, our readers. Our top five posts this year range from Wonderful Copenhagen’s provocative destination marketing strategy, to overtourism, to niche marketing. Here they are: 5) What does the ideal DMO look like? […]
3 white papers to lead your destination into the future
Destination marketing is changing quickly. Shifts in technology and consumer behaviour have forced many organizations (DMOs) to adapt or risk irrelevance. Does your destination use the best information and analysis to plan for the future? This is the place to find it. As an experienced destination marketing agency and consultancy, we have found that many […]
White paper: Will international tourism offices remain relevant?
The Destination Think! team is pleased to release this white paper that addresses international tourism offices: Will international tourism offices remain relevant?: Your roadmap for the future If you are reading this, you recognize that destination marketing is changing fast. New technology and shifting consumer behaviour have forced destination marketing organizations (DMOs) like yours to […]
Tread carefully: Our critique of the DestinationNEXT 2017 Futures Study Update report
Earlier this year, Destination Think!’s Chief Strategist, William Bakker, was a member of the advisory panel for the DestinationNEXT 2017 Futures Study Update report published by Destinations International. At Destination Think!, we’ve been quietly elated ever since the first DestinationNEXT report came out in 2014. It validated everything we’d learned about effective destination marketing through […]
Essential reading list: Leading the industry
As the travel consumer evolves and the industry battles to keep up, the DMO must shed its traditional role as chief promoter in order to fill the growing void in destination leadership.This was a common theme in the DestinationNEXT Futures Study published in June of this year, as well as a key topic at our […]
What does the ideal DMO look like?
The role, identity, and purpose of the DMO is always under scrutiny in our rapidly changing industry. Pressing reset, we’ve flipped the gaze from critiquing common malfunctions and missed opportunities to envisioning what the ideal DMO looks like. We sat down with minds from across Destination Think! who live and breathe strategic problem solving for […]
Resident backlash and anti-tourist sentiment: a running list
It’s no secret that visitor overcrowding and the effects of mass tourism have lead to outcry that popular destinations are losing their authenticity and the much-needed support of locals. Longstanding grievances at ‘invasions’ of visitors escalated this summer across popular European cities into angry protests, searing public graffiti, and even violent confrontations. Resident backlash has […]
Destination planning for the future: where to begin?
The challenges facing modern tourism often lie in attempting to appeal to everyone without having the capacity and planning to deliver on a mass scale. Common pain points such as over-crowding, mismanagement, and resident backlash can be remedied with forward-thinking strategies that find an equilibrium between all the actors at play. Through our work […]
Metrics mean relevance: Behold Door County’s data holy grail
Imagine being able to see exactly where your visitors come from, where they stay, and how much money they spend. Your marketing dollars don’t slip through your fingers, because your team can watch how effective their campaigns are on an interactive map. Better intel means that you feel more confident, make better decisions and have […]
Why you need a crisis communication plan (before it’s too late)
Destinations aim to shape public perception through branding, promotion, and hopefully tourism advocacy. But it’s a wild world out there. Your destination marketing organization (DMO) is only one player in an extremely complex communication network. Even if you design and implement a perfect tourism strategy, your destination is still subject to the whims of forces […]
Why loyalty management leads to growth
Imagine that for every one hundred arrivals to your destination, one hundred and ten returned next year. Ideally, how many of those would be repeat visits and referrals? Visitor retention is one of three growth engines for destinations (along with visitor acquisition and referral). A higher retention rate can reduce the risk of declining visitation. […]
If your visitors disappeared, would your residents miss them?
A destination’s perceived success is often tied to visitation. An increase in visitation can help destination leaders justify funding for their organization because they can reference the direct economic benefit their industry receives. In general, wealthy stakeholders are happy stakeholders. However, more and more of today’s destinations face challenges of overcrowding. Tourism promotion in one […]
How do your residents feel about tourism? Visit Flanders studies local perceptions of carrying capacity
Visit Flanders is taking resident opinions about tourism seriously. The Belgian destination management organization (DMO) has released a report written by Vincent Nijs that describes resident perspectives about carrying capacity and the perceived value of tourism in the city of Bruges. Nijs conducted this study as part of his MBA thesis at MODUL University in […]
Beware bad KPIs: Your DMO may not be reaching its full potential
It’s time to get specific about success. Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) need to focus all of their efforts on goals that help them solve problems for their industry, residents and visitors. Then, they need to measure the right results. How else will they know whether their marketing is working? Too many destinations are focused on […]
Step out of the silos and into the matrix
Many destination marketing organization (DMO) leaders struggle to organize and lead their team to be efficient and effective in today’s changing environment. Most DMOs still use a corporate structure that is a leftover from before the Internet arrived. In those days, most DMO departments worked independently. Organizations divided marketing responsibilities geographically, which made sense in […]
Go niche or your visitors will go home.
Many marketers’ intuitions urge them to go bigger, reach more people, get larger exposure and become more famous. This gives many destination marketers a (perfectly natural) mortal fear that focusing and reducing the size of their marketing audience is a dangerous move. But with careful consideration and testing, the rewards often outweigh the risk. Despite […]
Destination marketers told us their 7 obstacles to collaboration and change
The first time I used Google Earth, I was hooked. Sometime around 2005, I found myself exploring the planet from my hometown in the Canadian prairies with a simple scroll of the mouse wheel, a few clicks, and a search term or two. This was the literal world at my fingertips. Paris? No problem. Timbuktu? […]
Copenhagen declares “The End of Tourism as We Know It” in 4-year destination strategy
Wonderful Copenhagen has just announced the destination strategy that will lead it through 2020 and beyond. Written in consultation with Destination Think!, the plan outlines seismic shifts in the DMO’s role, and begins by describing what Copenhagen will leave behind, with a wink and a smile: “Wonderful Copenhagen concludes the end of the era of tourism, as […]
Are you invested in the right business models?
Today’s destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are wrestling with their relevance. For some, it’s an existential crisis. Their stakeholders are changing, consumer behaviour is leading disruption, revenue streams are drying up and being replaced, and destination marketers find themselves redefining their role. Without a clear value proposition, demonstrating relevance is an impossible task. Finding relevance through […]
Florida’s gateway to Disney makes big changes to build magical partnerships
When your destination’s stakeholders include Disney and Universal Studios, you’re playing in the major leagues. The city of Kissimmee, located in Central Florida near Orlando, is just minutes from some of the world’s most famous leisure attractions and theme parks, including Walt Disney World®, Universal Orlando Resort™, SeaWorld Parks and Resort, and LEGOLAND®. The area […]
Building stable funding models and revenue streams: Webinar highlights and recording
When it comes to funding, what’s the bottom line? For many destinations, diversification will help lower the risk of losing a single source of revenue. As part of our destination marketing webinar series, Destination Think!’s Senior Strategic Consultant Aaron Nissen presented research into today’s spectrum of funding models and shared some of the insights from […]
Get clear about your New Year: 6 steps to a winning strategic plan
After nearly a decade of facilitating and developing strategy in destination marketing, we’ve found a winning approach. Building a multi-year destination strategy involves making clear choices about your organization’s vision, goals, mission and values. Those choices will help you define tangible actions to make your destination’s vision a reality. Here are the six foolproof steps […]
4 perspectives on Airbnb from leading destination marketers
Airbnb and the sharing economy have forever changed the way we travel. In just over a decade, the online platform has grown to over 2 million listings in 191 countries, opening up a world of possibilities for travellers seeking accommodations. Airbnb’s rapid growth has impacted not only the hotel industry but the residents who call […]
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