The Role and Future of DMO’s in the Tourism

Ecosystem

Enter 2002

Innsbruck, Austria

Anna PollockDestiCorp Limited

Purpose and Scope

To have you see differently – to unleash your imagination & creativity – in order to work differently!

Why the Ecosystem metaphor? Introduce concept of Destination Webs © What is the role and purpose of DMO’s in

this context? Lessons from the Slimemould! Implications for organisation, work and

culture

From “Industry” to “Ecosystem”

A capitalist economy can best be comprehended as a living ecosystem.

Key phenomena observed in nature – competition, specialisation, cooperation, exploitation, learning, growth and several others – are also central to business life. ….

Information is the essence of both systems.

Michael Rothschild (1990)

From “Industry” to “Ecosystem”

The new paradigm requires thinking in terms of whole systems – that is, seeing your business as part of a wider ecosystem and environment.

Our traditional notions of vertical and horizontal integration fail us in the new world of cooperating communities.

In place of industry I suggest a more appropriate term: business ecosystem

James Moore (1996): Death of Competition

Out with the Old

Mechanical, clockwork view of the universe, the economy as engine

Sectors, industries as “cogs in a wheel” needing re-engineering, kick starting

Command and Control structures and cultures drawn from the battlefield or sport

Linear, supply chains

Enterprise Value a reflection of physical, hard assets (real estate, buildings, cash)

Big is better – control transaction costs, merge, acquire, dominate or die

Tapscott’s “Business Web” applied to tourism….

A Destination Web © is an electronically inter-connected community of autonomous but interdependent, travel-related enterprises that collaborate in order to provide value to visitors, profit for providers and partners and benefits to the host community. DestiCorp

What is a Destination Web ©?

1. A DW operates as an open system reliant on an external source of energy (visitors);

2. Each DW operates within a larger ecosystem (physical, social, financial, cultural, political);

3. Enterprises (businesses, associations, agencies) within DWs are equivalent to species that both compete and collaborate;

4. They exchange energy and resources with each other and the surrounding environment:

5. Stability depends on the DW’s ability to maintain an external and internal balance; and

6. Enterprises and ecosystems are self-organising and evolve

from simple to more complex systems

How is a DW like an ecosystem?

They are emerging……

Destinations currently comprise collections of fragmented enterprises focusing on their own customers and products

The means to act collectively in response to external change (such as an act of terrorism) or internal change (e.g., rising costs of capital or declining labour availability) is limited.

Diffusion of innovation and creativity is slow and uneven – ability to adapt is limited.

Do Destination Webs Exist?

• Common sources of energy – serve the same visitor

• Wired up – connected electronically via the Internet (TCP/IP)

• Common, open standards for data exchange, interoperability and connectivity

• Exchange information, goods, services, knowledge using common e-infrastructure

• Can anticipate, learn, adapt and evolve

Features of a Destination Web

Helps us better understand the laws governing success or failure

Points to new organisational structures and ways of working appropriate to a networked world operating globally and continuously

To survive, DMO’s need to be:

•Relevant•Agile•Responsive•Adaptive

Why the metaphor?

Role of the DMO

GuestProvider

HostDMO

Territory

Intermediary Space

DW

Environment

Culture

Social

Political

Economic

Visitors

Channels

Providers

Accommodation

Attractions, Events

Dining

Shopping

Transport etc

Partners

Travel Trade

Trade Press

Intermediaries

Customers

Business

Leisure

Domestic

International

Holiday

Short Break

Host Community

Regional Agencies

County Councils

Local Authorities

Tourist Info Centres

Environment

DMO

Traditional Mechanical Perspective

The Destination Marketing

Organisation

channels

Customers

Business

Leisure

Domestic

International

Holiday

Short Break

brands

Place

Sector

Theme

Market

TIC

Web

Telephone

Kiosk

Print

Car, mobile

Providers

Accommodation

Attractions, Events

Dining

Shopping

Transport etc

Partners

Travel

Trade

Trade Press

Associations

Host Community

Regional Tourism

Boards

County Councils

Local Authorities

Tourist Info -

Centres

Destination

Marketing

Organisation

Destination

Management

System

DW

Environment

Culture

Social

Political

Economic

Visitors

Channels

The DMO?

Visitor

Provider

HostPartner

DMO as “brain” ?

Visitor

Provider

HostPartner

DMO

As Cell Membrane

Sensing, responding

DMO Key activities

1. Developing and marketing the destination brand

2. Serving prospects and visitors

3. Empowering and serving providers

4. Supporting Partners

5. Bringing benefits to the Host

Implications

Developing the Destination Brand

DMO’s as Guardians of the Brand

1. The visitor has a complex experience – a mosaic of separate pieces

2. This mosaic can be packaged and described geographically or thematically

3. It remains, however, a highly subjective and personal mental construct – a fantasy prior to experience; a memory after the experience

4. Destinations are “the stuff that dreams are made of” and DMO’s “the keepers of the magic”

Developing the Destination Brand

The task is complex and highly dynamic What are the key brand values? How may they

be communicated and experienced consistently throughout the sales cycle?

How can they be presented and interpreted to appeal to an increasingly broad range of personal tastes and via an expanding range of channels?

The harsh administrative boundaries of a region rarely coincide with the visitor’s perception of a place – yet that is where DMO’s start and focus

Dancing with the Customer

• No longer a numbers game• You’re building relationships with individual

visitors and partners across multiple channels in a continuous cycle

• Your prospects, your visitors talk to one another• They are your greatest allies or worst enemies – treat

with care….• Enormous implications for organisational structure,

business process and information management

FocusVisitor

Partner Industry

Host Community

Resources

Strategic Services

Quality Assurance

Marketing

Visitor

Provider

Partner Host

How do we organise ourselves and work together?

•Customer facing activity

•Policy, brand, intelligence, comms support

•Operational Support (HR, £)

•Infostructurecontent, connections, tools

Visitor

Provider

Partner Host

How do we organise ourselves and work together?

Visitor

Services

Marketing &

Sales

Trade

Relations

Media

relations

Industry

Relations

New Products

Conference

Bureau

Research, Planning

Policy, Brand, Corporate Strategy

Operational Resources

Finance

Personnel

Technology

Facilities

infostructure

Internal support

Think, plan, guide

Execute, do

Dancing with the Visitor?

Recom

mend

Search

Compare

Select

Dream

Plan

Reject

Experience

Reflect

Buy

Return

stim

ula

te

Inform

sell

sup

po

rtevaluate

Reward

At each stage in the cycle?

1. What content needs to be presented and in what format?

print, moving image, still image, editorial text, facility descriptors, product inventory, availability, quality…..

2. What tools will the customer need to make a purchase?

searching, comparing, selecting, requesting, reserving, paying, confirming, changing, upgrading

3. What channels are best suited to the customer at each stage and how can the content be presented as relevant?

Empowering Providers Market Intelligence Access to markets – electronic distribution and sales Control and choice Skills development

Supporting Partners Relevant content Access to inventory at net rates Quality assurance Marketing support

Serving the Host Performance, ROI, impact Maintaining a balance

DMO’s Have Other Customers Too!

The Issue is Managing Complexity

• Markets are fragmenting from multiple segments to thousands of demanding individuals

• Channels and partners are proliferating in number, type and complexity

• Supplier base – large, heterogeneous, and highly fragmented

• Scope and power of the functionality required is increasing exponentially….while

• Budgets and human resources are restrained, reduced.

Lessons from Nature

• Intelligence has less do with size than connections – internal and external

• Human Embryo: in the first five weeks • Next 8 weeks• 80% of the nerves in the cerebral cortext connect not

with sensory input but with each other.• 95% of DNA is pre-occupied with organisation and

administration• Slime mould – primitive funghi, cell clusters, no brain,

no “pacemaker” cells – shows signs of intelligence

Slime Cells Working Together

Yellow = slime cells filling a maze

Slime Cells Working Together

Add food at two ends of the maze …..

Slime Cells Working Together

Slime cells re-organise to minimise the distance between the “organism” and source of food – using inter-cellular, peer-to-peer communication.

To Control or To Enable?

DMO in Control Mode

Intelligence concentrated in centre

Develops complex spec for multi-functional DMS

Sets standards, compiles content

Hard-wired solutions

“Top Down” approach, mindful of jurisdictions beneath, rationale, structured

DMO in enabling Mode

Wires up the participants

Feeds all players information, intelligence

Creates secure trading environment (QA)

Encourages learning, interaction, innovation

Intelligence is pervasive

“Bottom up”, self-organising, peer to peer.fluid, messy…

Conclusion

1. Think in system terms – identify their contribution to the destination web and re-examine their role and core competencies

2. Organise their internal work differently to match the changing environment;

3. Add value by focusing exclusively on customers’ needs – not on its own concerns for survival;

and….

Smart DMO’s will

Conclusion

4. Enable and encourage maximum communication between all participants in the destination web by:

– Encouraging all participants to “get wired” and use and develop interoperable “web services” and open standards

– Encouraging knowledge sharing and innovation– Listening to (sensing) and talking with (responding) to

customers– Providing a safe electronic trading environment (QA, trust,

security)– Pointing in the direction of energy – allowing collaborative

solutions to emerge

Thank You

For more information about Destination Webs, Web Services, Slime Mould and other important topics,

please visit us at :

www.desticorp.com

Thank You