Having established what DMOs are and how they are funded, we will now turn our attention to what they actually do.
At the highest level, a DMO is a matchmaker, thoughtfully connecting the generalized needs of a travelling public with specific regional suppliers of delight through the application of comprehensive local knowledge.
This is very much the core of it, the TLDR, but one that is sadly too often lost in the blur of busy hands attending the the minutae that spill from it.
In the more prosaic terminology of business schools, DMOs deliver services to clients. Which sounds simpler, until you start to itemize the mind-boggling number of services and the various sets of clients.
Why “clients” and not “customers”? Simply because, for the most part, the people receiving the services are not the ones paying for them.
Typical DMO Services
Marketing and Brand Management
DMOs manage the destination’s brand, generally in order to inspire leisure travel to the destination. While individual attractions might have their own visitor appeal, it is the DMO’s responsibility to market the destination a whole. At a consumer level, this is achieved through clever positioning and consistency of messaging across paid, owned and earned channels.
Beyond consumers, DMOs typically market the destination to specific professional audiences: PR teams pitch trending destination stories to travel writers, industry experts meet directly with major international tour operators to get their destination listed in travel agent’s brochures, and convention marketers persuade meeting planners of the virtues of hosting their event just here.
Despite the massive scale of the tourism industry, destination b2b marketing and sales tend to be highly relationship-led. DMOs often host familiarization (FAM) tours for meeting and tour industry VIPs who might bring significant future business to the destination.
Information Services
DMOs provide a trusted “centralized platform” or “one-stop shop” for destination information and trip planning. Informational resources take many forms, including bricks-and-mortar visitor centers with professional staff, printed travel guides, brochures and maps, comprehensive websites with local events calendars and direct message support via phone, email, text and social channels.
Support for Locally Hosted Events
DMOs may act as brokers and facilitators for event planners as they wrestle with the complex logistics of organizing a conference in unfamiliar territory. They may also offer incentives to attract particularly lucrative events to the destination or provide grants to incubate local initiatives with significant visitor appeal.
Support for the Package Tour Industry
Outside the United States, a significant proportion of vacations are booked as packages from Travel Agents. For example, fully inclusive coach tours, with guides and interpreters, pre-booked flights and hotels, including group meals at local restaurants, tickets to attractions, curated wine tasting experiences at vineyards etc.
In order to get a piece of the action, DMOs market their destinations to the big Tour Operators, who they hope will include their destination among their package offerings. Aside from the previously mentioned FAM tours, destinations may present themselves at industry trade shows such as IPW.
At a more local level, DMOs may act as matchmakers, connecting in-country Receptive Operators with those local suppliers best-suited to accommodate large groups of travelers.
Support for Local Businesses
DMOs typically support their local business community in a variety of ways beyond simply marketing the destination on their behalf. As the one-stop shop for event planners and tour operators, DMOs are often a significant source of leads for b2b service providers. Depending on their funding model, DMOs may also engage in lobbying or advocacy work on behalf of the local tourism industry. Many DMOs are a source of research data, helping businesses level-set with their rivals or get a better gauge on consumer sentiment. DMOs may also provide networking and educational opportunities for local business operators, doing their best to ensure that front-of-house staff across the destination are sensitive to the needs of the travelling public..
Another Frame of Reference
For another way to think about the work of DMOs, consider reading my post The DMO Venn Diagram.
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