What do you think Destination Developers do?

AI generated

You know how it goes- whenever I try to explain what I do in tourism, I often find myself having to steer people away from the idea that all tourism work is just about hotels, tours, and marketing.

Many think destinations are always "tourist-ready" and just need a bit of marketing magic. The reality is that it's so much more complex.

Destination development and management are at the heart of tourism. As destination development strategists, we work on everything a place needs to thrive as a tourist destination-

·      destination profiling

·      infrastructure and accessibility

·      community involvement

·      visitor management

·      workforce development

·      tourism policy

·      investment opportunities, and

·      even making it easier for operators to do business. 

And yes, marketing is part of it too.

Even within the industry, this broader perspective sometimes gets overlooked. I get it- I was an outsider until 2016! My first year in what I call "traditional tourism" was all about going back to first principles and piecing together this massive puzzle. Tourism is such a fragmented industry; it’s like a collection of mini-industries working together.

But there’s so much more happening behind the scenes, which I call the fun stuff. 9 years hence, I love talking about my work, even if I'm still debunking myths!

The amusing image in this post is what AI thinks Destination Development looks like.

#destinationdevelopment #destinationmanagement #tourismdevelopment #DMO