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What is Destination Management and Why is it Important

Destination management plays a vital role in helping organizations in the travel and tourism industry achieve their goals. It can unlock many benefits, such as delighting the travelers so they return to the destination, increasing revenue, and building a sustainable plan for the future.

However, the term destination management still escapes many people. Given how important it is, we wanted to help you understand the definition of destination management. We even went one step further and refined a list of the most important stats, best practices, and real-life case studies.

What is destination management?

Before we define destination management, we have to define a destination. A destination can be anything, including a country, region, province, district, city, park, museum, neighborhood, etc. Destination management is a comprehensive process that includes the management of different aspects of the destination.

Destination management can include anything of the following:

• Local resources
• Accommodation
• Amenities
• Events & activities
• Environmental concerns
• Marketing efforts
• Transportation
• Tourist attractions

Destination management can also include local businesses and leverage local knowledge to help create immersive experiences and attract even more travelers to visit the destination. Every destination management system (DMS) is unique. Some may focus on local resources and accommodation, while others can focus on tourist attractions, events, and activities.

Stats about destination management

The most important stat for assessing the success of a destination management strategy is the length of stay or LOS. LOS is a parameter that shows you the ratio of the number of guests and the number of total arrivals. A recent study assessed and compared LOS across 32 destinations worldwide, including well-developed destinations and those in emerging economies.

The global trend of LOS is falling by almost 15%. There is one exemption, though – the LOS of individual destination countries is increasing.  

Next, we have the noteworthy change in how destination management organizations (DMO) approach destination management. Over 50% of these organizations will enlarge their scope. They are no longer only focused on brand promotion and traditional marketing – DMOs are shifting toward enhancing the sustainability of destinations and their overall competitiveness.

It goes in line with the fact that over 50% of global travelers want to travel more sustainably, and almost 70% expect to see more sustainable tourism options the travel industry offers. Furthermore, over 60% of travelers want to contribute to supporting the destination’s recovery efforts. 

What is the importance of destination management?

Destination management is vital for several reasons as it benefits the entire area defined as a ‘destination’. Many people only see the benefit of tourists bringing more money to the destination. However, this is only one side-benefit of a well-planned and executed destination management strategy.

Destination management can help attract sponsors and investors. This financial injection can help local businesses to grow and thrive. Thanks to this cash, the villages and towns in the area can be revitalized. The surplus of money can help revitalize the economy of an entire region or even an entire country. 

Since destination management adds value to a destination, we are talking about a long-term effect. It simply means the destination and country it’s in will continue to reap these benefits in the foreseeable future. 

What is the difference between destination marketing and destination management?

Destination marketing and destination management can not be used interchangeably as these are two completely different things. As previously stated, destination management refers to managing different elements found in one destination. On the most basic level, these elements include physical locations, people, products, and services.

However, when you combine these elements, you have the attractions, transportation, accommodation, and hospitality of a destination. The role of destination management is to manage these elements and ensure sustainability and consistency in the travel experience.

Destination marketing is one of the most important elements of destination management too. In other words, destination management has to encompass destination marketing as a strategy. Destination marketing aims to inform potential visitors about the destination by focusing on communicating its values. Ultimately, it has to be able to persuade travelers to visit it.

What is the function of a destination management company?

Before you work with a DMC, you need to know what it is. The best way to understand the function of a destination management company (DMC) is to know what this management organization stands for.

Gain a richer perspective on the pivotal roles and advantages of Destination Management Companies in the tourism sector. This article delves into the operational nuances of these companies, shedding light on their integral part in shaping travel experiences.

DMC is a for-profit tourism business that can offer various services to groups and individual travelers. These services range from meeting your travel and accommodation needs to meeting your entertainment and leisure interests. 

DMCs have extensive knowledge of the destination and resources and are well connected with local businesses. It enables these organizations to coordinate and implement anything found on their travel options and itineraries. Not all DMCs are the same, which makes their specific functions vary. 

For instance, a DMC can specialize in program design and logistics management but offer no supplier management and accounting services. Other DMCs can have all these services included in their offer.

Best practices in destination management

Destination management encompasses many unique destination aspects, making it hard to distinguish good from bad practices. Here are the noteworthy best practices in destination management that touch on different aspects of destinations.

Moving away from one-size-fits-all

Many DMCs have a one-size-fits-all approach to communicating the value of a destination. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic proved that it might not be the best approach. Diversifying the marketing mix and adding personalized messages to attract both local andinternational travelers is a better solution.

While it may increase the research and marketing costs, this tactic can offer better results in the long run. It enables DMCs to identify destination aspects that cater to the needs of travelers in the local and international tourism markets. It can help the destination thrive, even if unforeseen circumstances occur.

Development of the infrastructure

The destination’s infrastructure is key to attracting new tourists and accommodating the increasing number of tourists visiting the destination. Given the scale of work that has to be planned, managed, and completed, this practice involves the authorities in the destination. The local governments and councils must be swift to recognize the need of travelers. 

To do it, they need to work with tour operators and travel agents. They must quickly follow with required infrastructure upgrades or developments, which often involves issuing relevant permits, funding the projects, and overseeing their development.

Smart visitor dispersal

The famous 5-places-to-visit and 10-things-you-must-do travel blogs have the tourists always visiting the same locations in the destination. However, this practice hinders the development of the destination as a whole. That’s simply because tourists always end up dining at the same restaurants and staying at the same hotels.

The best way to facilitate the development of the entire destination and drive its economic growth is to disperse visitors across the destination. At the same time, this practice can improve traveler satisfaction rates as they get to explore new and less-famous locations while still having access to the most famous sights.

Custom-tailored tourism destination marketing

We’ve already established that destination marketing is one of the key aspects of destination management. In the era where travelers look for personalized experiences, traditional marketing has very few things to offer.

That’s why DMCs started custom-tailored tourism destination marketing campaigns. They use a variety of channels to reach out to potential visitors. However, instead of delivering a uniform message, they communicate the unique destinations’ values to attract people with specific needs and expectations.

Travel responsibly

The increasing number of tourists in one destination can disrupt the everyday life of the locals, affect the region’s sustainability, and even result in an increased number of traffic accidents. That’s where the next best destination management practice, ‘travel responsibly’, comes into play.

Responsible travel can encompass various initiatives, including educating visitors about the local’s way of life, ensuring safety on the roads, enhancing public transport capacity, and building new parking spaces. The goal is to minimize the disruptions tourists can create while improving the safety of visitors and the locals.

Real-life examples of destination management that used best practices

A best practice in destination management is just a tip. To see the value of the best practice, you need to see it used in real-life.

Hotels in La Cerdanya focus on the local tourism market

La Cerdanya is one of the most attractive areas that international travelers like to visit while exploring Spain. However, the number of guests significantly decreased due to the travel restrictions. The hotels in the region recognized the current one-size-fits-all destination planning and management is no longer viable.

Catering to the needs of people in the local tourism market enabled the hotels in this Spanish region to attract more guests from Spain, keep their doors open, and even increase revenue.

Croatian cities accommodating to the cruising industry

The international cruise industry is one of the fastest developing sub-sectors of the travel industry. As a country with a beautiful coastline, it has a limited number of ports to accommodate cruises. The particular need for this type of accommodation exploded after some Croatian cities were featured in famous movies and TV shows.

In collaboration with DMCs, cruise companies, and tour operators, Croatia identified the key ports that need to be upgraded to accommodate cruisers. As a result, cruising tourism in Croatia exploded, generating more than 400% of revenue compared to previous seasons.

Copenhagen visitor dispersal program

Wonderful Copenhagen, the Danish capital region’s official tourism organization, recognized the visitor dispersal needs and benefits it can offer both local and international visitors. The study found that 80% of locals want more dispersal of visitors, and travelers are more satisfied when they visit five or more neighborhoods.

Wonderful Copenhagen took action in collaboration with the local authorities. The new framework is named 10xCopenhagen. Over 50% of the new hotels in Copenhagen are being built in surrounding neighborhoods. It will help promote sustainable tourism and improve the visitors’ overall experience and satisfaction rates.

The ICS travel inspiration magazine

The ICS is one of the world’s leading DMCs. While the company still relies on traditional marketing to achieve some of its goals, it has also launched a more custom-tailored campaign. The company found a sweet spot for its campaign not to be too aggressive.

The ICS launched an online magazine with the sole purpose of helping travelers look for travel inspiration. They named the magazine The ICS Odyssey. Every new edition features a new destination highlighting a unique experience it can offer.

Destination Queenstown’s responsible travel initiative

When it comes to alpine destinations available on our planet, few can compare to Queenstown, New Zealand. Recently, this destination has become very popular among international travelers. Many people even decided to invest in the region, buying land and building their new homes.

However, Destination Queenstown, a regional travel organization in charge of Queenstown, discovered that residents are troubled with several concerns ranging from over-tourism to sustainability.

The organization reacted with many destination management initiatives to make the stay and travel in Queenstown more responsible. They invested in roads, public transport, and parking, but most importantly, they also introduced a visitor care code to enhance and promote travel responsibility.

Conclusion

While tourism can be one of the factors that help a destination or entire area to thrive, it has to be well-planned. Destination management is the only holistic approach to delivering this to a destination. As a coordinated process, it helps manage all the key elements that make a destination.

Now that you know what destination management is, the best practices, and real-life examples, you can better understand this concept and see the value destination management creates for the destination and tourists, DMCs, and travel agents.

Executive Apartments? Corporate Apartments? Short-Term Rentals? Serviced Apartments? Oh my!
Some business trips don’t require more than a few nights in a hotel room before you’re on your way back home. However, those more extensive work travels don’t have to be relegated to small, cramped hotel rooms. If you’re visiting a new city for a few months, especially frequently, you deserve a space to stretch out and call home – especially since booking a hotel room for months at a time can rack up a huge bill.

The long term guest will look to executive apartments, corporate apartments, short-term rentals, and serviced apartments for accommodations. These all fall under the umbrella of corporate housing.

What Is Corporate Housing?

Corporate housing apartments are fully furnished.
The expectation of the long term guests is quite different from the short term traditional hotel guest. The long term guest is looking for an experience of a home away from home. They want to duplicate the experience of home, looking for features like a full service kitchen, comfortable bed, and stylish décor.

Most corporate apartments offer the above without all the bells and whistles. Corporate apartments are fully furnished with custom selected furnishings, linens, and décor with amenities such as weekly housekeeping services and all-inclusive utilities.

Who Uses Corporate Housing and Why?

You’re on an assignment for a project in a new city. Your manager has chosen you to head up this initiative, but it requires traveling to a field office and finding housing in your new city. You know you’ll be there for at least three months, but chances are you’ll have to extend your trip. As a business traveler, you’re likely going to look for a corporate housing facility for your “medium-term” accommodation.

Over a billion room nights are sold each year across all hospitality platforms. Between 87% to 90% of these are transient travelers who stay between 1 to 3 room nights in traditional hotels. The remainder are looking for stays that can range from a couple of weeks to 6 months or more. These travelers are traditionally relocating employees or on medium-term assignment, and they come from a variety of industries:

• Healthcare
• Education
• Interns
• Consulting
• Technology

There is no finite clientele for short-term corporate housing. The need is changing often, and as new industries begin booming and more specializations are created, the need for corporate accommodation will continue to increase.

What Are the Benefits of Corporate Housing?

Cost-effective
Corporate housing corners the market between exorbitant hotel stays and cost-inefficient furnished apartments by blending aspects of both at a more effective price. Typically these apartments are fully furnished, and include all utilities. Errandables short term corporate apartments are booked under one all-inclusive fee, so you won’t ever see a surprise bill at the end of a month.

Corporate apartments are also serviced, meaning that hotel-like amenities from housekeeping and concierge assistance can be included. Errandables all-inclusive price covers weekly housekeeping and a 24-hour concierge service. Your Errandables residence comes fully furnished with Samsung HD televisions, an LG two-in-one washer and dryer, linens, and toiletries.

The average rate for U.S. corporate housing in 2016 was $150 a day. Revisn beats that daily price, and our leases are flexible. After a minimum 30-day stay, you can extend your reservation a few days, weeks, or months whenever you need. Never pay for more room nights than necessary!

A home away from home
Privacy and safety are important features of corporate housing. In a residential setting, it is easy to feel like you are at home instead of a hotel. Revisn provides state-of-the-art security features like our two-way video intercom entry system and ultra-secure in-room Wi-Fi networks. No one but our residents and their preferred guests can step foot through our door, just like at home.

The commitment of a long hotel contract, or signing a lease for a fully-furnished apartment in your satellite city is inconvenient and dated. Corporate apartments eliminate these contracts and unnecessary fees, all while providing an exceptional hotel-like service right to your residence door.

Errandables corporate apartments are perfect for the long-term business traveler, their family, and their pets. Our executive apartments come fully furnished and fully equipped, including modern designer furniture, high-end appliances, cutting-edge technology, and luxurious personal amenities. For everything else, just ask our 24-hour concierge.

Stay a few weeks or a few months while you explore the city. The flexibility of Revisn lets you decide when your stay beings and ends without being locked into calendar months or long-term leases. All you need to bring is a toothbrush and your clothes. We provide the rest. These short-term apartments provide you the residential experience you’ve been looking for.

Choosing a parcel delivery firm is hit-or-miss. In the digital age, courier companies are sprouting without teams. What should you consider before picking courier services?

Many companies depend on product delivery. Some companies have their own delivery vans, whereas others use a third party.

These businesses avoid licenses, regulations, gasoline costs, taxes, and driver training by outsourcing delivery. However, choosing the correct courier services can affect your organization. You want your business to be trusted, and who it works with matters.

With so many road hauliers, couriers, and huge national parcel delivery providers, you may be asking how to choose the best one.

To ensure on-time delivery, check out our top 10 courier services considerations. It matters that the parcel was delivered. Our list will help you avoid scammers and cowboy couriers. Our today’s compilation will definitely help you to select the best courier services.

Speed:

This is a major consideration for many people when selecting a delivery service. Delivery times are crucial for many companies. Even if punctuality is normally not a problem, there may be times when it is imperative to expedite a shipment. So, compare the companies’ typical delivery times and the range of times they can deliver in. Some companies may simply offer standard and urgent delivery, while others may provide a wide selection of options to meet your every demand.

Regions Examined:

You should have confidence in your courier’s ability to meet your delivery needs if your company accepts orders for shipment to customers spread out across the country. Several shipping companies if you sell on a global scale, it’s important to work with a courier that can easily do both domestic and foreign deliveries.

Perspective on Caring:

The care with which your courier transports your shipment is crucial if it contains fragile or perishable items. There are constantly horror stories about couriers being careless with packages, destroying fragile objects, or making repeated vehicle changes to reduce delivery expenses. Make sure you study reviews and have a conversation about how they handle the care of your delivery before making a decision.

Experience:

It’s important to compare the experience and years in business of various courier services. A reputable courier who has experience transporting packages for companies like yours is your best bet. That way, they can give you excellent service and give you tips on how to enhance your own method of distribution.

Appearance:

At the delivery stage, your customer’s first impression of your company will be formed by your courier. Consideration should be given to the care with which their cars and messengers are presented.

Flexibility:

Will your courier be flexible and willing to work with you to suit our needs, or will they be a cold and unresponsive service provider? Know that your courier can accommodate any unique needs or time constraints your company may have.

Advantageous Extras:

To what extent can your supplier assist you beyond simply transporting packages from A to B? Packaging, labelling, warehouse management, logistics, print, and postal fulfilment are just some of the value-added services that some couriers (like us) may provide. If any of these tasks are performed in-house, or if they are not performed at all, considering outsourcing as a possible solution to improve efficiency.

Capacity for Keeping Tabs:

How critical is it that you always know where your shipment is? Do you intend to simply send away packages without ever tracking their progress? A better option would be if your courier provided you with full visibility on your package’s whereabouts and history, down to the minute.

Helping Out Customers:

Pick a logistics provider you can reach by phone and enjoy interacting with. One benefit of dealing with a smaller company is having a direct line of communication with the proprietor. Find out if the drivers are willing to lend a hand with manual loading and unloading.

Price:

Although it’s possible this might be your first choice, it’s really listed last on purpose. You see, couriers are like anything else in life; you pay for what you receive. Choosing the cheaper alternative frequently means settling for worse quality. Be wary of any additional fees that may not be explicitly stated. And choose the finest solution for the company rather than the cheapest.

As a vital aspect of their service, product distribution is an integral part of many industries. Road transport is essential for many businesses, including bakers, flooring stores, printers, promotional product suppliers, builders’ merchants, wholesalers, eBay vendors, and machine makers. While some companies operate their own van fleets, the majority prefer to have someone else handle product distribution so they can focus on what they do best while the delivery company handles things like insurance, maintenance, payroll, and payroll taxes. Choosing an outsourced logistics provider may not seem like a big deal — until something goes wrong, that is. An unprofessional or inconsistent customer delivery might do irreparable harm to your company’s reputation. It is very important to hire reputable courier services.

Summing up:

To have a successful courier experience, there are some important things to remember. First, pick a trustworthy courier. Research their history, consumer feedback, and industry reputation. Choosing a reputable courier service reduces the risk of problems. Second, fully communicate and document delivery details. Provide precise pickup and delivery addresses, sender and receiver contact information, and special instructions. The courier services can better organize and execute the delivery. Thirdly, senders must appropriately wrap products. To protect the products during shipment, use bubble wrap, padding, or cushioning. Label and handle fragile things carefully. To protect fragile objects, insure them. Legal limits on supplied items are another important issue. Hazardous or perishable goods may need licenses or packing. Avoid delays by following the courier company’s rules and regulatory constraints. Finally, track the cargo. Senders and recipients may track most couriers online. Tracking allows proactive communication and transparency. When using courier services, individuals and organizations can improve their shipping experience, assure item safety, and get fast and reliable delivery by remembering these key considerations.