The following paper was written for the final exam of the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) accreditation through Destinations International.
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Reframing the New Destination Organization by Keeping Its Marketing Heritage
By Andi Jaspersen, CDME; April 2023
Executive Summary:
The tourism industry must change and adapt to the desires of today’s travelers who demand more immersive, personalized, and exclusive options. The centuries-old “show and tell” model for attractions and tours no longer suffices. However, the instigation of change falls frequently to the Destination Organization (DO), straying from the traditional boundaries of the convention and visitors bureau. Also growing on the list of priorities for the DO is the importance of resident sentiment toward both tourism and the awareness of its economic impact for their community. The tourism office must maneuver its way into a place of greater influence in their destination to ensure the longevity and ultimate support for the industry and the financial benefits that come with it. Approaching these new challenges within the framework of classic media marketing strategies can help DOs justify the break from the mold and approach the new methods strategically, ensuring a balanced distribution of efforts, time, and money.
Introduction:
The world sits perched at the brink of an artificial intelligence revolution, promising to drastically change the ways we interact and market on a digital front. However, the real-life landscape of destination management has been slowly evolving up to this point to adapt to a new era of tourism. Particularly after the quarantines and travel restrictions that COVID-19 brought to society around the globe, antsy travelers realized that they craved more depth, more meaning, and more heart from their journeys. They wanted to immerse themselves and feel; to go explore the world they longingly viewed through their tiny phone and laptop screens for much, much too long — but this time, using all their senses. The age of experiential travel took hold.
No surprise, then, when Wunderman Thompson released the Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in 2023 that some of the strongest, overlapping trends dealt with a desire for the extraordinary. Concepts like “elevated expressionism,” seen in permanent, art-driven attractions like Meow Wolf, challenge viewers with the perception of reality. The OMG! category on Airbnb’s vacation rental site features zany, unforgettable lodging, tapping into the desire to “level-up” the story back home; both the “wanna-be UFO abductee” and the “old woman in a shoe” travelers get an experience to enrich their life stories. Tour companies compete to include “exclusive” experiences, like private concerts, homestays with indigenous families, or the ability to explore nearly impossible places, from the International Space Station to the Titanic wreckage. Experiences are trumping “things” in big ways. As booking platform Regiondo verbalizes, “Experiential purchases differ from material purchases in both objective and results. ‘Experiential purchases serve the purpose of acquiring a life experience while material purchases serve the purpose of acquiring an object. Research has demonstrated that experiential purchases are associated with more happiness than material purchases,” referencing a study published in the Journal of Psychology (Tussyadiah, I. P.).
In the destination organization (DO) space, though, changes in traveler mentality resulted in significant shifts in DO priorities. The standard “show and tell” model (see an artifact, read a placard) at attractions is not going to cut it anymore. Travelers no longer want to merely see dinosaur bones and fossils, they want to dig them up alongside paleontologists. Sampling pastries at the local bakery isn’t enough; they want to make the delicacies with the shop’s baker using his great-grandmother’s recipe and locally sourced flour. Limitations to the collections on display available to everyone are out. Instead, order up a behind-the-scenes VIP tour (bonus points if they get a “Lizzo moment,” and get to play their favorite riff on a 200-year-old flute) (Library of Congress).
While these expectations may seem like “the attractions’ problems” (and they partially are), the DO can and should take an involved role in the development of its destination’s experiential offerings, particularly because it continues to unify the destination brand by doing so. Also, weave in the need for a stronger voice within the community; the destination marketers morph into destination managers, wielding larger influence in the destination.
Analysis:
To his credit, Joe Veneto has preached experiential tourism for decades. The founder of the Veneto Collaboratory brings together groups of industry professionals to learn, brainstorm and implement the theory through immersive workshops. Classes visit attractions that layer the experiences they offer with “extras” — and profit from the changes. The goal is to fill a visitor’s “emotional bank account” and create an ambassador for the attraction or, ideally, the entire destination. To be successful, though, the strategy largely begins with the experts in a destination — the tourism office.
To date, many DOs have incorporated some of these concepts from within their organizations. As Matt Stiker from BVK highlights, mass transformation of visitor centers arose as technological capabilities improved and consequentially began to take over the DO’s primary function (trip planning assistance). But as amazing as technology is, the human element and direct contact with travelers remains invaluable, playing a key element in increasing the length of stay or the amount of money spent in-market (Hokans et al.). Firsthand knowledge of a place paired with the kindness and enthusiasm of a local destination expert, over time, has the ability to make a significant jump in the economic impact in a community. Reimagining the visitor center as the destination-in-miniature with tactile sneak peeks of attractions, integrating a local-merchandise gift shop, or breaking the mold completely and taking the info to the streets in a mobile visitor center, DOs began to stretch the status quo.
Without even realizing it, these forward-thinking DOs converted their service offerings into “owned media” — a marketing channel through which the story of the destination is promoted under the DO’s direct control. Adam Stoker, CEO of Relic Agency and host of the Destination Marketing Podcast, makes the argument that DOs should be putting a stronger emphasis on their owned media strategy because it builds an audience who is invested in the messaging — and customization plays into increased effectiveness. But how many destinations are approaching their services as a strategic marketing tool? The experiences a visitor has can and should join more traditional formats of owned media like blogs and websites. The visitor center experience allows DOs to craft a narrative, guiding visitors through the destination and able to participate at a deeper level.
Some DOs took it a step further, however, and began developing events (particularly in the vacuum of the pandemic). A great example of this is in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where DO Visit Cheyenne quickly reacted to the cancellation of Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD, the city’s largest event of the year, featuring 10 days of rodeo and concerts, drawing over 250,000 people into town). Fear gripped the small businesses that depended on the influx of visitors to make their shops and restaurants profitable for the rest of the year. The cancellation of the 124-year-old tradition took an enormous blow to the local economy in 2020. However, CEO Domenic Bravo went to work, leveraging his connections and rounding up the core staff of five to pick up the ball and run. The Visit Cheyenne team pulled together a series of three rodeos in the summer of 2020, kicking off the inaugural season of the Hell on Wheels Chuck Wagon Dinner & Rodeo. While the $125,000 economic impact the first season yielded didn’t hold a candle to what CFD would have brought in, the homegrown rodeo is now entering its fourth season and has incorporated over $75,000 in community sponsorships and received earned placements in national publications. The ongoing economic impact continues to grow; The DO discovered that tourists are planning their trips around the Hell on Wheels event dates, coming from all over the country (and world!) Best of all, the positive sentiment from the residents as they buy in and see Visit Cheyenne as an organization that gets stuff done improves the opportunities to advocate in and through the community.
In the same way a company or DO might leverage a white paper as thought leadership content, events like the Hell on Wheels Chuck Wagon Dinner & Rodeo can be used in much the same way: ultimately, the event is a story about a destination, told and controlled by the destination, and guests can experience the story firsthand in the destination.
Understanding it is not always realistic for the DO to serve as full-blown event producers, alternate approaches must be explored to keep up with the needs of travelers and to remain competitive in the sector. This underlines the critical importance of nurturing relationships with attractions in a destination. In a healthy relationship, the DO wields influence, sharing their expertise and a broader perspective than that of an individual attraction. Communicating trends and visitors’ expectations to the DO’s community partners is an avenue to help guide programming choices that weave into the destination’s brand. However, since the DO is not in complete control of implementation, they share the messaging with the attraction. This operates much like “shared media,” a marketing strategy used by, but not owned by, the DO. Because they do not own the channel outright, the risk of their messages changing or disappearing exists (i.e., social media). Just like a carefully compiled TikTok campaign and its audience can evaporate with the failure or banning of the platform, customized experiences created with a local partner can just as easily vaporize for any number of reasons (leadership changes, budget changes, construction, etc.). While there is higher risk in a shared model, with proper encouragement, funding, and support from the DO, a partner’s unique offerings can be another tool to wield for the destination.
This concept expands beyond the traditional realm of attractions and local business owners. The relationships that the DO fosters with the local government through good advocacy extend the reach and opportunities of the tourism sector, particularly as the need to nurture resident sentiment grows and the cry for better practices in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) gets louder. Identifying similar or overlapping goals between the DO and the local government and related nonprofits opens doors for more communication, resource sharing, and forward movement. Involvement on advisory committees, attending public meetings, and finding ways to partner with influential groups are ensuring a seat at the table for DOs all around the world.
One of the ancillary benefits of the DO members’ activity out in the community is additional visibility of the organization. Repeat exposure of the brand, mission, and faces of the DO serves to underline their role in the community — and is an excellent platform to spread news about events and attractions (and ideally, news will spread through local networks via word of mouth — “earned media,” to follow the analogy). The DO’s relevance is more broadly established when the “what’s in it for me” mentality of residents is satisfied. Ensuring the DO has a hand in establishing or supporting amenities like attractions, downtown districts and public gathering spaces, or accommodating public restrooms, as well as events like concerts, festivals and farmers markets, enriches the residents’ lives — and can be justified and paid for with tourism dollars. It is imperative that DOs get their brand associated with large events, generally through sponsorship (“paid media”). Event organizers and community leaders should begin to see the DO’s investment into the community and connect the dots: tourists’ taxes fund the DO; the DO gives us money for the event; ergo, the tourists paid for our event (and brought more tourists in to continue the cycle). When done well, the residents’ feelings toward the tourism industry grow warmer, ideally to the point of being an advocate for the DO.
The ongoing need to gauge the current sentiment of the locals is a common theme across many DOs. The locals, after all, create and send out the “vibe” that tourists feel. The smiles, friendliness and willingness to help (or, conversely, the lack thereof) reflect the personality of the destination to a visitor. The interactions with the people who live there define a place in a tourist’s mind — and what they say about it after they leave to their friends and family (and perhaps more importantly, on social media). Local buy-in is critical. In order to adequately measure a community’s opinion of tourism, discussions must be initiated. Be it surveys, panel discussions, workshops, or door-to-door canvassing, the DO should make an effort to find out what the members of their communities think. Often, the opportunity to participate and verbalize thoughts and ideas will cause small but immediate improvement in opinions, simply from feeling heard.
Bordeaux Metropole and their Tourism and Convention Office established an incredible program called Agora Tourisme Bordeaux (in English, this translates to roughly, “Bordeaux Tourism Gathering Space”). The metropolitan French region created an avenue for community members to collaborate with the tourism office and voice their concerns, ideas, and opinions about the impacts of travelers in their city. With the ultimate goal of balanced and sustainable tourism, their forums, workshops, and ongoing surveys continue to clarify the needs of the community. The city desires to be a leader in responsible travel, protecting the environment while helping visitors savor the joy of traveling in their territory. As a result of the DO’s and locals’ efforts, the group has built out a roadmap on actionable steps to take through 2026 and have been globally recognized for their efforts.
Ambitious destinations may take on the endeavor of building a master plan, tourism-specific or community-wide. Darren Rudloff of Rudloff Solutions focuses his time and energy on helping DOs accomplish this, specifically geared toward identifying city/county/community initiatives already in action that go hand-in-hand with the direction of the DO’s goals. Compiling the data, goals, and plans from multiple organizations, as well as conducting dozens of interviews with stakeholders in the community, allows him to find commonalities and themes. The information then boils down into a few categories, categorizing the major projects into the main pillars he identifies with the DO. At that point, a steering committee to oversee the implementation and guidance of the plan comes together. The collaborative nature of this method, led by the DO, creates more buy-in from the community and, in return, more incentive for forward movement. As Jessica Seders, the Executive Director of Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau in Gillette, Wyoming put it, “Instead of us doing it alone, in silos, how do we do it together?”
The resulting projects and their respective end products would fall under the “shared media” model. The cooperation of multiple entities can be a double-edged sword, particularly if they have ties to the government. Progress is often quite slow and faces multiple layers of bureaucracy. However, once the product is completed and in motion, the foundation is solid and may have longer-lasting results, particularly if several organizations played a part in the implementation. The stakes are higher with more skin in the game if the project fails, so the incentive to succeed is high. If the DO and community can survive the building process, the risk is lower than projects developed with single, private entities that are wholly responsible for implementation of the “shared media” project.
Conclusion:
The intimidation factors of new traveler and resident expectations could be partially mitigated by reframing them into something more familiar. As most DOs have roots in the destination marketing realm, translating the new strategies into marketing lingo may help in choosing priorities and deciding how to allot budgets as they shift to a destination management role. The concept of paid, earned, shared, and owned media (PESO) should be somewhat of a comfort zone and translates well to help decide how much effort should be poured into each strategy. Just like a traditional marketing plan, all four categories must be approached in a balanced manner to ensure the best possible reach. Clearly understanding the DO’s audiences will help them determine which channels will be most effective and worth investing time and money into; likewise, knowing both the tourism personas and the community personas and what motivates each will guide the DO to smart choices in their approaches. A solid mix of paid (sponsorships and grants), earned (building relationships and organizational connections to develop advocates for the DO), shared (collaborated and supported programming choices with local stakeholders), and owned (internally built and run programs, visitor experience opportunities, and events) efforts will strengthen the tourism efforts, community-wide. The end result is better pride of place for locals and an improved destination for travelers.
Building out a roadmap for the new “marketing plan” will also help the DO gain ground and buy-in from their board of directors and other community stakeholders. Intentional allotment of how time and funding will be divvied up to implement the new projects and strategies allows the DO to justify the changes in methodology and educate the stakeholders on developments in the industry. The selection of projects can also work to maneuver the DO into healthier relationships with key figures in the community to achieve additional goals.
One element to yet be explored, however, is the measurement of ROI for these tactics. Unlike the data and marketing tools used to track ad exposure, click-throughs, or credit card and cell phone tracking, the return on these efforts by the DO will be much more qualitative than quantitative. Much like public relations professionals in tourism have had to develop unique measurement tools to determine the worth of each placement they earn, each DO (or perhaps a larger movement by Destinations International) will need to identify benchmarkers, beginning with integrating tools like the Economic Impact Calculator and sector-wide research.
In the ever-shifting world of tourism, DOs will continue to face drastic changes in the coming years with the advancement of AI, acceptance and expansion of the Metaverse, and visitor expectations in regards to digital interaction. But just as the industry is adapting to the age of experiential travel, they certainly will evolve to embrace the technological advances without denying the very human elements of their community. They may just have to find marketing parallels to reframe the discomfort.
References:
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