US-based Destinations International has partnered with MMGY NextFactor, a travel and tourism consultancy firm, to create what they call a ‘strategic roadmap for the NEXT Generation of destination organisations’.
Their study comes as most destination organisations re-evaluate their purpose and face a stack of challenges and less funding to capitalise on opportunities.
The DestinationNEXT 2021 Futures Study offers some direction for how destination leaders can navigate our industry’s highly fluid future. The survey asked global destination leaders a range of questions relating to 100 travel trends, 80 industry strategies, shifting organisational roles, and key performance indicators. A total of 706 participants in 52 countries took part in the survey, with data supplemented by interviews with global leaders in tourism, hospitality, business events and other sectors. The project kicked off in January 2021 and was completed in four phases:
1. Global advisory group: A group of executives and destinations provided guidance and identified the key trends and strategies for the report.
2. Major trends impacting the global visitor economy: Over 150 interviews were conducted with the global advisory group and six advisory panels designed to provide a variety of perspectives on the industry’s future.
3. Major strategies for destination organisations: A list of 80 strategies was developed in a second Strategy Map around three pillars: destination marketing, destination management and destination organisation.
4. Report and presentation: The creation of a report and presentation deck included case studies and best practices to help implement the recommended strategies.
This qualitative and quantitative research led to three themes/opportunities for destination organisations:
1. Destination alignment: Aligning the public, private and civic sectors to drive destination performance.
2. Sustainable development: Destination and product development should marry people, planet, profit and policy.
3. Values based marketing: A community’s values, goals and creative energy are the new competitive advantage
These common themes have the potential to create a framework that accelerates the recovery of the global visitor economy, as well as lay the foundation for building a more resilient sector in the coming decades.
Destination organisations are also dealing with many other industry and societal disruptions, including the climate crisis, the rise of remote working, the acceleration of e-commerce and hybrid events and serious workforce capacity issues hampering recovery.
Don Welsh, president and CEO, and Jack Johnson, chief advisory officer at Destinations International, say: “Destination leaders need to leverage all the information and opportunities collectively to lead their organisations effectively. We are proud to release this report to help our members by providing them with a roadmap toward a successful, more impactful future.”
The global visitor industry is at a crossroads. When push comes to shove, will the industry really ‘build back better?’ Will we see definitive advances in sustainability, equity, diversity and inclusion; and community building to make our sector more human and earn the respect of other leaders? Or are a majority of stakeholders simply waiting out the pandemic for the old status quo to return?
These, the study shows, are going to be the defining questions for how destination organisations move forward as a community shared value.
