Why for DMOs marketing turns into management
Destination marketing, how it has been taught and practiced for many years, doesn’t work anymore. Different market situations, changed user behavior and ongoing new technologies will significantly transform and expand the responsibilities of the classic DMO (destination marketing organization). To ensure a long-lasting competitiveness it is necessary to develop the marketing strategy into a management strategy.
Classic marketing measurements are no longer sufficient enough to meet the challenges of digitization. But what to do if the own website loses reach and you can no longer get hold of guests? What if guests only inform themselves via language assistants? If adverts are simply overlooked? It’s time for a different approach. Even if the area of responsibilities of the DMOs significantly changes, they must be well positioned in their structures and be able to operate flexibly. After all, a destination still has to take care of the reasons why a guest should visit a destination. To achieve this, the content of all service providers must be digitized. However, this information must reach the guests via the tools they use to gather information. In future, the communication about the destinations will be determined and taken over by the guests – the management must provide the occasion or the content for it. The realization, that communication is digital and that users need a digital basis for their communication which they can use, share and store, is most significant.
Responsibilities of destination managers:
Attractions, experiences, products and offers are only perceived by guests if they are clearly and structurally available on all information channels. Destinations have a large number of stakeholders who already have digital information. For the generation of comprehensive data, content from service providers (e.g. hotels, restaurants, leisure facilities, means of transport, etc.) as well as content generated by guests must be integrated. It is this knowledge (in form of content) that is the real treasure of a destination – what actually constitutes a destination. In order to achieve maximum benefit for all, all these contents must then be digitally combined in ONE database. However, this is not the sole task of destination managers. Its focus is on the organization, i.e. the management, the individual stakeholders and their content. The aim is to discover, activate and motivate all available resources in order to subsequently establish a sustainable guest communication.
The slogan “never change a running system” no longer fits. A fast adjustment to circumstances is necessary, permanent further training and research into new products are part of the day-to-day business: marketing becomes management.
Would you like to learn more about this topic? Be a part of the Outdooractive Conference. The lecture “From Destination Marketing Organization to Destination Management Organization” by Thorsten Rudolph is not the only chance at the conference to learn more about the future of DMOs. Secure your ticket now!