As the purpose and fundamental dynamics for destination marketers continue to shift, we wanted to share ten educational articles that every DMO should read before 2018.
The following collection of articles were sourced from various publications with authors directly or indirectly involved in the travel & tourism space.
Each link is followed by a short synopsis of the relative article for your convenience.
1. “Marketing Trends For Destination Marketing Organizations at Destinations International 2017”
by Wendy Olson Killion (Expedia)
Upcoming trends in destination marketing including emerging VR technologies, returns on big data and measuring returns on ad spend.
2. “The New DMO”
by Greg Oates (PCMA Convene)
Importance of cooperation between destination marketing organization and economic development organizations (with respects to leveraging respective strengths).
3. “The Future of DMOs: The ECM Manifest”
by Peter Jordan, Manoli, Psarros & Peter Rømer (Toposophy)
Eight important considerations when looking at modern destination marketing practices in urban Europe.
4. “Here’s What Google Thinks: Five ‘Next Practices’ In Destination Marketing”
by Andrew Levine (Forbes)
Five themes that stand out in marketing destinations, as per a conversation with Jenny Thomassian, Google’s Head of Industry for travel.
5. “10 Destination Marketing Trends For 2017”
by Gathan D Borden (Personal Blog)
Ten concise pieces of advice for DMOs, with respects to exposure and ways to broadcast content to partners and followers.
6. “DMOs Under Assault”
by Johanna Jainchill (Travel Weekly)
Current issues surrounding public DMO funding in the US with emphasis on educating elected officials and competing for common resource pools.
7. “Why The Destination Marketing Model Is Broken”
by Frederic Gonzalo (GonzoMarketing)
Four key disruptors in the DMO tourism model; a collaborative economy, UGC & social media platforms, third-party OTA distribution dominance, and the mobile device.
8. “Tourism Bureaus Need To Stop Thinking Like Tourism Bureaus”
by Greg Oates (Skift)
Interview with William Geist, Chief Instigator @ DMOproz. First-hand account of the changing purposes and behaviors of DMOs.
9. “Destination Funding Models: Can DMOs Seek Financial Stability From Their Governments?”
by Aaron Nissen (DestinationTHINK)
Spectrum of funding models for DMOs in Canada & the US. Find out where your DMO sits on the government to industry-led scale.
10. “Why The DMO Needs More ‘Manager’ Than ‘Marketer’”
by Chris Fair (Resonance)
Shifting from DMO to DMMO (destination marketing & management organizations) and the importance satisfying residents as opposed to visitors.
11. “8 Things Your DMO Needs To Know About Its Tourism Operators”
by William Bakker (DesinationTHINK)
Eight valuable assumptions and recognitions that DMOs should take into account when communicating and working with tour & experience professionals.
More
For more suggested readings, check out DestinationTHINK’s Top 10 recommended readings from 2016.