OTHM LEVEL 7 DIPLOMA IN TOURISM &

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT

By Dhanushka Wijeyekoon 1
DESTINATION PLANNING &
MARKETING

2
 DESTINATION PLANNING

Destination planning is defined as “the strategic,

organizational and operative decisions taken to manage
the process of definition, promotion and
commercialization of the tourism product, to generate
manageable flows of incoming tourists that are
balanced, sustainable and sufficient to meet the
economic needs of the local stakeholders involved in the
destination

3
 KEY CONCERNS OF DESTINATION
PLANNING
• Increasing awareness

• Protection of natural and cultural heritage areas and assets

• Managing demand and seasonality effects

• Managing the environmental impacts of tourism

• Tourist satisfaction

• Ensuring local community well-being

• Sustainable tourism stakeholders

• Funding sustainable tourism 4

COMPONENTS OF A STRATEGIC
DESTINATION MANAGEMENT
PLAN

5
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Define the destination

• Define the vision (refer slide 13)

• Data, research and analysis

• Strategic fit

• Brand positioning

• Target markets

• Experience and product development (Attractions)

6
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Access

• Marketing and promotion (Awareness)

• Amenities, services and infrastructure

• Environmental stewardship

• Capability and development

• Leadership and structures

• Risk and crisis management

• Measuring success 7
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Define the destination
Defining the destination is important when multiple stakeholders with various
perspectives are involved. In addition, it fosters a pragmatic approach that can
ensure progress and success.

• Define the vision

A clearly defined long-term vision, to which the community and stakeholders are
committed, with an agreed understanding of what success looks like, is critical to
ensure all parties are heading in the same direction.

• Data, research and analysis

Destination Management requires data, research and insights to inform decision
making and measure success. This includes understanding your visitors well, how
your destination delivers on visitor needs and expectations, as well as measuring
how your community feels about visitors and the tourism sector.
8
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Strategic fit
Destination Management planning needs to be cognizant of national and regional
planning frameworks to reduce the potential for conflicting objectives and
unfulfilled goals. Destinations also have a role in influencing the focus of these
frameworks.

• Brand positioning
Successful destinations have a clear brand and positioning that captures the
essence of the destination. Collections of people, places and experiences create the
destination’s brand story and value proposition. The destination’s logo is a symbol
that represents the destination and the experience offered.

• Target markets
It is essential to identify your target markets through your data/insights and
destination analysis, as it should inform all planning, development and marketing
activity. Include both domestic and international visitors and segment the markets
where possible, based on the visitors’ characteristics, motivations and behaviors.
9
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Experience and product development (Attractions)
Research shows that successful destinations provide visitor experiences that meet
the visitors’ needs and expectations and are true to the promises of their brand.
They continuously maintain and enhance their existing products and where there
are gaps or opportunities, they invest in new products, infrastructure, services and
amenities that strengthen the destination’s appeal and competitiveness.

• Access
Access to and around a region/destination is a key enabler. It can either accelerate
or hinder visitor growth.

• Marketing and promotion (Awareness)

A destination’s marketing and promotional activity is a core part of managing a
destination effectively, targeting the right type of visitors, encouraging regional
dispersal and addressing seasonality. For a region to create a viable, sustainable
tourism sector, its needs to stand out in a highly competitive marketplace.
10
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Amenities, services and infrastructure
Visitors require a range of services and amenities within a location to fulfil their needs
and expectations. They share these amenities and services with the local residents.
Visitors become ‘temporary residents’, often supporting a scale of community amenity
that benefits the locals, helping to sustain the vibrancy, diversity and social, cultural
and economic fabric of communities.

• Environmental stewardship
Visitor experience depends on our beautiful landscapes and natural environment;
therefore, it is essential that we protect and restore our environment for current and
future generations to enjoy.

• Capability and development

Investment in people and capability building is critical to lifting the productivity of the
tourism sector and delivering quality visitor experiences.
11
 COMPONENTS OF A DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT PLAN
• Leadership and structures
Leaders and champions are required across all aspects of destinations, and partnerships
and collaboration are important for success. A focus and commitment to building DM
knowledge and capability across all entities involved in supporting the destination is
important.

• Risk and crisis management

Risk management is vital, destinations propensity to natural disasters such as
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and severe weather events. Both the tourism industry
and destinations must plan for such events, undertake risk assessments and pre-plan
and practice response strategies.

• Measuring success
Successful destinations regularly revise and re-engineer their plans and structures
according to the changing visitor needs and economic influences.
12
 SRI LANKA DESTINATION VISION &
MISSION
- Vision –
To be recognized as the world’s finest island for
memorable, authentic and diverse experiences

- Mission –
To be a high-value destination offering extraordinary
experiences that reflect Sri Lanka’s natural and cultural
heritage, are socially inclusive and environmentally
responsible, and provide economic benefits to
communities and the country
13
 3 INTERDEPENDENT
COMPONENTS OF DESTINATION
PLANNING

14
 3 INTERDEPENDENT COMPONENTS
OF DESTINATION PLANNING

1. Visitor Experience

2. Marketing and Promotion

3. Resource Management

15
 3 INTERDEPENDENT COMPONENTS
OF DESTINATION PLANNING
1. Visitor Experience:
the destination’s experience offering, including activities, attractions,
supporting infrastructure & services

2. Marketing and Promotion:

the destination’s marketing and promotional activity, creating demand
and enabling the destination to be competitive, productive and

3. Resource Management:
the destination’s strategy, policy and regulatory frameworks,
organizational structures and the investments that support the
destination

16
 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF
DESTINATION PLANNING

• Supportive regulatory environment

• Stakeholder engagement

• Effective & valid tourism sustainability strategies

• Access & availability of financial tools & resources

• Monitoring destination sustainability

17
 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF
DESTINATION PLANNING
• Supportive regulatory environment

Governments need to establish and enforce policies that

promote the adoption of sustainable tourism practices.
Governments to impose sanctions and incentives conducive to
sustainable tourism practices

• Stakeholder engagement

Establish an umbrella organization that encompasses government

sectors, DMOs, and tourism businesses to streamline sustainable tourism
efforts. Members should consider forming strategic alliances with entities
such as airlines 18
 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF
DESTINATION PLANNING
• Effective & valid tourism sustainability strategies

• Access & availability of financial tools & resources

Establish regional organizations to support tourism development

efforts and provide funding

• Monitoring destination sustainability

Monitor Current Sustainable Tourism Practices: Perhaps the most

important factor for achieving sustainable outcomes at the destination
level is robust and independent monitoring of current practices on site.
19
 HERO EXPERIENCES IN
DESTINATIONS

Hero experiences are those world-class or iconic

experiences that provide a destination with a real
competitive advantage over other destinations. They
focus on what is truly unique, memorable or engaging
about the destination

20
SUSTAINABLE DESTINATION
PLANNING

21
 SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

22
 2030 AGENDA FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

• People

• Planet

• Prosperity

• Peace

• Partnership

23
 2030 AGENDA FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
People: End poverty and hunger to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their
potential and live in a healthy environment of quality and dignity.

Planet: Protect the planet from degradation, sustainably managing natural

resources and taking urgent action on climate change, to support the needs of the
present and future generations.

Prosperity: Ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives
and that economic, social and technological progress align with nature.

Peace: Foster peaceful and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence.

Partnership: Build global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the

poorest and most vulnerable, and with the participation of all countries and all
stakeholders.
24
SUSTAINABLE DESTINATION
DEVELOPMENT

25
 CHALLLANGES IN
IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
• Costly and time consuming
• Requires specialist knowledge
• ‘Imposes’ standards and restricts economic development
• Standards and principles are often unenforced
• Consumers are not interested/unwilling to pay extra
• Companies claim sustainability while carrying on business as usual
(Green washing)
• Lack of proper reporting skills
• Deviate from the main purpose of business
• Lack of monitoring on progress
• Rent seeking behaviour 26
GROUND REALITIES & CONSTRAINTS IN
DESTINATION PLANNING

27
 TOURISMOPHMOBIA
Tourismophobia:
A rejection of the tourist industry and its institutional partners by
local residents, who feel legitimately or not that they are deprived
of their rights, benefits and tranquility.

Touristophobia:
An aversion to tourists that is demonstrated by acts of rejection—or
aggression—committed towards them.

28
 OUTCOMES OF TOURISMOPHOBIA

• Targeted attacks

• Ill-treatment for tourists

• Theft

• Negative WOM about the destination

• Complaints

• Dissatisfied tourists
29
 OVERTOURISM
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines overtourism as
"the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that
excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or
quality of visitor experiences in a negative way“
………………………

Overtourism is the perceived congestion or overcrowding from an

excess of tourists, resulting in conflicts with locals

30
 TIPS TO MITIGATE OVERTOURISM
• Imposing taxes

• Penalty charges for tourists who exceeds the assigned time duration at an
attraction

• Explore off the beaten paths

• Respect local culture

• Travel during off peak period

• Ask for local experts for advice

• Demarketing

• Price discrimination or fluctuation 31

 CARRYING CAPACITY
"Tourism Carrying Capacity" is defined by the World Tourism
Organization as “The maximum number of people that may visit a
tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the
physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable
decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction”.
……………………………………

Carrying capacity can be defined as a species’ average population size in a

particular habitat. The species population size is limited by environmental factors
like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates. If these needs are not met, the
population will decrease until the resource rebounds.

………………………………………

The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a

biological species that can be sustained in that specific environment, given the
food, habitat, water, and other resources available
32
 DEMARKETING
is a demand management strategy

Demarketing is “The use of advertising to decrease demand for a

product that is in short supply.”
Basically, any attempt that is made to discourage consumers from
buying a certain product is called demarketing.

33
 DEMARKETING
is a demand management strategy

Destinations may also involve de-marketing, i.e.

the discouragement of certain market segments
from visiting the destination during certain
periods, through a range of prohibitive measures
or by charging premium prices.

34
 WHY DEMARKETING ?

• Managing an existing shortage.

• Avoiding potential shortages.

• Minimizing harm to individuals.

• Minimizing harm to nature or unique resources.

• Preserving the natural habitats

• Discouraging unwanted entries

35
DESTINATION CRISIS
MANAGEMENT

36
 DESTINATION CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Destination crisis management entails developing

measures, plans and manuals to promptly respond to
disaster events in an adequate way to minimize the
negative impact to visitors and the tourism industry.

Well prepared destination and tourism business are

quick to plan and take necessary actions for post disaster
recovery

37
SOURCES OF CRISIS

38
 DESTINATION TOURISM
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
CYCLE

39
40
 SUCCESS FACTORS OF DESTINATION
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
• Stakeholder relations
• Crisis type
• Crisis practice
• Financial/funding
• Communication
• News Media/social media
• Organization/destination image
• Learning
• Knowledge Management
• Marketing
• Recovery
• Institutional characteristic
• TCM approach
41
DESTINATION MARKETING

42
 DESTINATION MARKETING
Destination marketing is the marketing activities carried
out to promote the destination in national and
international areas, to create a positive image in the
target audience, to brand the destination and to gain an
advantage over its competitors
…………….

Destination marketing facilitates the achievement of tourism policy,

which should be coordinated with the regional development strategic
plan. Marketing of destinations should also guide the tourism impacts
optimization and the maximization of benefits for the region.

43
 SUCCESS FACTORS OF
DESTINATION MARKETING

44
45
 MARKETING OBJECTIVES OF
DESTINATIONS

• Enhance the long term prosperity of local people

• Delight visitors by maximizing their satisfaction

• Maximize profitability of local enterprises and maximize

multiplier effects

• Optimize tourism impacts by ensuring a sustainable balance between

economic benefits and socio-cultural and environmental costs

46
 DESTINATION BRANDING
• Sri Lanka – One island Thousand Treasures , Wonder of Asia,
Small miracle, A land like no other, So Sri Lanka

• Malaysia – Truly Asia

• India – Incredible India

• Kerala – Gods own city

• Taiwan – Hart of Asia

• Maldives – Sunny side of life

• Thailand – Amazing Thailand

• Indonesia – Know it, love it 47

FUNDAMENTALS OF A DESTINATION
BRAND

• Reputation

• Identity

• Perception / Image

48
 FUNDAMENTALS OF A DESTINATION
BRANDING
Reputation
is the sum of the beliefs or opinions about the destination, it needs
to be built, protected, maintained and changed, if needed, over
time.

Identity
has to be driven by authenticity, unique selling points of the
destination, consistency and strong personality.

Perception / Image
is mostly made of immaterial experiences, even though material
experiences matter as well, and it is subjective, in the mind of
consumers. 49
MARKETING RESEARCH IN
DESTINATION MARKETING

50
 MARKETING RESEARCH IN
DESTINATION MARKETING

Marketing research is used extensively by destination marketers to

identify the types of customers that can be attracted (active
demand), as well as the prospective visitors (suppressed demand)
who do not visit for a variety of reasons.

Approaching the right target market and providing the most

appropriate combination of local tourism products and services is
the secret for successful destinations.

51
 CONTRIBUTION OF MARKETING
RESEARCH TO DESTINATION MARKETING

• Identification of the main attributes anticipated by each market

segment

• Design and attributes required for tourism products and services

• Evaluation and development of destination image

• Segmentation of market and development of corresponding

marketing mixes

• Opening new markets and reducing dependency on existing ones

• Evaluation of the elasticity of demand for each market segment
52
 CONTRIBUTION OF MARKETING
RESEARCH TO DESTINATION MARKETING
• Reduction of seasonality by matching market segments

• Examination of reasons deterring people (suppressed demand)

from visiting destinations

• Assessment of compatibility with other target markets

• Examination of alternative distribution channels

• Assessment of tourism impacts to the destination and selecting the

right segments
• Evaluation of marketing effectiveness and selection of media for promotion
53
 PROMOTIONAL TOOLS FOR
DESTINATIONS

• Travel trade fairs & exhibitions

• FAM tours (Familiarization)

• Digital marketing

• Outdoor advertising

54
 PROMOTIONAL TOOLS FOR
DESTINATIONS

• Travel trade fairs & exhibitions

ITB – Berlin / WTM –London / JATA – Japan / NATAZ – Singapore / MATATO
– Malaysia / KOTFA – S’Korea / OTM – India / SATTE – India / IMEX –
Frankfurt / BITM – Spain

• FAM tours (Familiarization)

Travel journalists / Travel bloggers & Vloggers / Social media influencers /
Film directors / Celebrities

• Digital marketing

• Outdoor advertising 55
THANK YOU !

56