Validation of a Gamified Mobile Experience by DMOs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the online communication strategies used by destination management organizations (DMOs) during a terrorist attack. In particular, this study analyzes Twitter use during seven terrorism incidents in six European cities (Paris, Brussels, Nice, Berlin, London and Barcelona) between 2015 and 2017. Design/methodology/approach Twitter content was collected via NCapture, a web browser extension of NVivo, one week prior to the attacks, the day of, and two weeks following to determine the timeframe in which DMOs communicated about the crisis, the types of messages being communicated, and whether these messages are effective. This study uses Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory as a guide to analyzing the effectiveness of the crisis communication strategies. Findings The findings of this paper indicate that DMOs are not effectively using Twitter during a terrorist attack. Few tweets relating to the attacks provided tourists with information regarding their safety, with the remaining only communicating as victims. Many DMOs went offline in the days immediately following the attacks and each DMO’s crisis communication on Twitter only lasted up to one week following the attacks. Originality/value This study provides insight into the ways DMOs are using social media for crisis communication. These results inform DMOs on their responsibility in communicating information during a terrorist attack. Messages of support are useful in the recovery stage, but tourists need information on how to stay safe and Twitter is often the first source people go to for information (Simon et al. , 2014).

Requirements for destination management organizations in destination governance: Understanding DMO success

The Baby Boomer generation has been the focus of a great deal of analysis in the travel industry, the millennial generation is now surpassing this segment in garnering more attention. This study shed light on the millennials as the forthcoming tourist demand to assist the destination management organizations (DMOs) better understand their needs and expectations to address them with the right product using the right means of communication. In this perspective, the study focuses on the DMOs' websites as a main marketing tool for delivering the marketing message to the millennials. It investigates the alignment between these websites and the millennials’ prospects. Results reveal that the DMOs' websites are still not ready to fulfill the millennials' expectations and that there is a significant difference between these websites and the millennials' prospects regarding the content and performance.

The purpose of this study was to determine the promotional activities and the factors that affect Toraja Destination Management Organization (DMO) in promoting the attractions in Toraja. This study uses qualitative descriptive analysis. Data collection methods used were interviews, observation and documentation. The results showed that the Toraja Destination Management Organization (DMO) can not be separated from the promotion mix. The five forms of promotion mix, not all do. Forms of promotion mix done of personal selling, advertising, public relations, and direct marketing, while the use of a variety of intensive not do. Additionally, Toraja Destination Management Organization (DMO) has moved towards the process of Integrated Marketing Communications Integrated Marketing Communication or that include the coordination efforts of the various elements of promotional and other marketing activities. Meanwhile, a supporting factor comes from two aspects, internal and external, internal refers to the performance and creativity as well as measures of innovative Toraja Destination Management Organization (DMO), while factors external support in the form of support from other parties who deal directly in the world of tourism , While inhibiting factor is the gap between the readiness of tourism development with incessant promotion that has been done is not effective.

Determinants of tourism success for DMOs & destinations: An empirical examination of stakeholders' perspectives

This qualitative exploratory study examined the effectiveness of organizational resilience processes adopted by Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) during a global crisis. Study results showed that the DMOs’ organizational resilience engaged strategies fostered within a positive work climate (PWC) where dynamic processes of resilience capabilities emerged for Caribbean SIDS. These organizational resilience processes are complex and dynamic, with an interplay of both internal and external influences. The study offers practical and theoretical implications for public organizations in the service sector, where an integrated framework for engaging resilience strategies and capabilities processes emerges.

The research aimed to explore whether ecolabels could be used as innovation tools to achieve sustainable tourism development (STD) at the level of a tourist destination. The paper used results obtained by a questionnaire survey among destination management organizations (DMOs) in cities and municipalities to investigate how much ecolabels are used at the level of tourist destinations in a case study of the Republic of Croatia (in 2017 and 2021). DMOs were chosen as the subject of research due to their crucial role in the development of tourist destinations. The findings from the linear research indicate that DMOs in Croatia still do not recognize the importance and role of implementation of tourist ecolabels as an innovation tool in achieving sustainable tourism development at the destination level. The paper provides new theoretical insights into the application of ecolabels at the level of cities and municipalities as tourist destinations. Thus, it could induce future research by scholars in this field because an analysis of academic literature indicates that there is a lack of such research. Moreover, the results given by this research could provide a basis for DMOs to start to think in a different way about the application of ecolabels at the level of a tourist destination.

Pangandaran is one of the tourist destinations in Indonesia which has developed and has fairly strategic potential to encourage the regional and state economy. The rapid development of tourism in Pangandaran turned out to cause various problems. This is due to the lack of synergy among the roles of stakeholders involved in Pangandaran tourism management. In 2010, the Destination Management Organization (DMO) concept was implemented as an effort to improve the tourism destination governance in Pangandaran. This concept emphasizes the form of collaboration among stakeholders from community groups, the private sectors, and the government. The collaboration is led by the destination management organization (DMO) which serves as mediator, facilitator, and coordinator among the three stakeholder groups. This research is conducted in Pangandaran Village using mixed method which combines quantitative and qualitative research methods aimed to analyze the stakeholders who are involved in tourism destination governance in Pangandaran based on the DMO concept. From the results of the study, it is found that there are ten stakeholders who have high involvement on the tourism destination governance in Pangandaran. All of them have high level of interest and power, but there is one stakeholder who has high interest but low power in DMO-based tourism destination governance collaboration

Destination Management Organizations’ websites are very important tools since they allow direct communication with the traveler worldwide and provide information at every step of the “customer journey”. Complementary to websites, presence in Social Media Platforms, enhances interactive communication with tourists, enables usage of user-generated content and helps better understanding what are the travelers’ perception about the destination. We use a model to evaluate the quality and digital presence of two Greek regions, namely Crete and South Aegean. The model was properly adjusted for a single evaluator to grade local governmental destination websites. In addition, a reputable online tool was used to evaluate their pages or profiles on Social Media Platforms to formulate a complete picture of their digital presence in destination management. In both Crete and South Aegean regions, the majority of websites dedicated to destination promotion received nearly half of the excellent grade; the empirical evidence indicated that YouTube was the best utilized platform (over 65% of channels received a B- to C- rating). Almost 35% of FB pages got B-, the highest grade for Instagram profiles was C+ (close to 55% of the profiles), and for Twitter profiles, it was C (20% of them).

Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) are driving the sustainability transformation at territorial level. The novel adoption of Fuzzy Formal Concept Analysis to analyse a census survey (n = 109) of Italian DMOs highlights the potential of FFCA to uncover nuanced patterns of sustainability implementation that remain hidden using more conventional methods: the co-existence of operational tourism flows management and strategic efforts aimed at advancing sustainability. This represents not only a methodological innovation and a valuable path to process categorical data from survey designs, but also a novel practice-oriented insight for destination managers aiming at implementing sustainability practices.

Sustainable tourism development asks for coordinated and collective action where destination management organisations (DMOs) are considered a crucial steering stakeholder. The aim of this study is to explore the current state of implementation of the internationally renowned destination sustainability standards from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in Alpine destinations (Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Italy). Drawing from a survey (n = 80) with destination managers, it explores (1) the attributed importance, (2) the self-assessed level of implementation, as well as (3) the expected future importance of the GSTC criteria. Despite the indicated importance, the degree of implementation lags significantly behind. This lack of implementation is critical, especially since the DMOs attach even greater importance to these issues in the future. Further research needs to address how to close the identified gap between the perceived importance and actual implementation to advance in this urgent challenge of sustainable transformation.

The second viewpoint is industry-focused and is authored by Mr. Murat Toktaş. He is the founder/president of KATID (Black Sea Tourist Operators Association), the founder/president of SKAL Karadeniz, and the founder/vice-president of TUROYD (Tourism Hotel Managers Association) and a member of the Board of Directors of TUROFED (Turkish Hoteliers Federation). In his viewpoint, he explains how destination management organizations (DMOs) work with local governments in Turkey. He suggested a successful destination marketing strategy for the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). Collaboration between local and DMOs is essential for destinations to be adequately promoted and become a successful brands. Marketing is effective when a destination's artistic and cultural features are correctly promoted, as in the case of TGA. This viewpoint also concludes with several future research directions.

Incorporating sustainability into the Destination Management Organization (DMO) policies is important because it is a competitive factor. Additionally, this is due to the requirement for effective planning and the proper management of tourism development. To promote and evaluate the sustainability aspect of tourism destination competitiveness, it is essential to create a system of sustainable tourism indicators and ensure effective stakeholder involvement and communication as a key strategy for the implementation of the indicators. This paper addressed the issues of Serbian tourism stakeholders' awareness and knowledge regarding the importance of the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) for the evaluation of sustainability aspect of tourism destination competitiveness. The results indicate that there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the availability of sustainable indicators and collection methods. The authors suggest that significant efforts need to be made to raise awareness of ETIS and its importance for tourism destinations governance, while DMOs need to continuously improve the methods they use to collect key sources of information.

The aim of this study is to evidence how 2.0 conversations in social media impact the reputation of destinations. Additionally, the influence of co-creation practices is analysed. The five most competitive destinations worldwide have been chosen for the research. This paper demonstrates that monitoring social media is a challenge in tourism and is a strategic tool to support process decision making and for destination brand building in a sustainable way. Currently, there are several monitoring and analytic tools, but there is a lack of models to systematise and harness it for the Destination Management Organization (DMOs). In conclusion, how tourists play the main role in the competitiveness of Destinations with their experiences and opinions are considered, along with some keys for successful management of social media are given in the view of the results.

This study aims to examine the influence of halal tourism destination branding on visitors’ satisfaction and revisit intention at Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province. This study uses a quantitative explanatory approach. Population of respondent in this study is tourist who are visiting Lombok. The data were obtained using a questionnaire addressed to 100 tourists who visited Lombok for a holiday reason. Analysis of data used Path analysis method. The results of this study are: (1) halal tourism destination branding has a positive influence on visitors’ satisfaction, (2) visitors’ satisfaction directy influences revisit intention, (3) halal tourism destination has a influence on visitors’ revisit intention through visitors’ satisfaction. Destination brands provide the link between visitors and destination management organisations; tourists may or may not develop a degree of loyalty to destinations as brands Destination brands provide the link between visitors and destination management organisations; tourists may or may not develop a degree of loyalty to destinations as brands