Destination Development and
Institutionalization Strategies
In the OIC Member Countries
21
Traditionally, DMOs were classified into two categories, the corporate and the community model, until the
development of the four-category model discussed above. In the community model, which can be classified
as highly decentralized, all other tourism providers are on equal footing and follow their own strategies,
while in the corporate model, which can be classified as highly centralized, one firm creates a network of
relationships with the other providers but manages the destination by itself. It is worth noting that various
studies in the area of governance concluded that each country needs to create the structure that suits its
purpose as long as this structure allows the DMO to get support fromboth the government and the tourism
industry to carry out its activities. 46
Research into governance of DMOs is rather limited, which has hindered the development of a DMO
governance model, as access to information about organizational processes and operations is not publicly
available. Some academic studies, that drew attention to shortcomings in DMO governance, have led to
more restrictions on public access to information. 47
Most public-private partnership DMOs have a board of directors with an executive director or a chief
executive officer as opposed to governmental DMOs who have directors and deputy directors without a
board of directors. The board of directors of public-private partnership DMOs is responsible for
monitoring the financial and overall annual performance of the DMO and change its by-laws when needed
as well as represent the DMO and tourism stakeholders within the destination. Specialized standing
committees are usually formed from board members to deal with various areas such as executive, finance
and audit functions.48
In terms of departments, DMOs on the national level, particularly governmental entities, tend to have more
departments reflecting their larger size and responsibilities. In Nigeria, the Ministry of Information,
Culture and Tourism, which is the government body responsible for tourism on the national level, has five
departments; the finance and administration, the planning, research and statistics, the domestic cultural
operations, the external cultural relations, and the international tourism promotion and cooperation. 49
There is a great variety in terms of departments organization in regional DMOs depending on their size
and activities. Tour Granada has four departments: tourism promotion, planning and development,
communication, and information departments.50 In Guam, the DMO is divided into three departments:
marketing, management and development. The development department works on improving the
destination in terms of carrying out improvement campaigns and adding up a new museum. The
department also engages with city planners and tourism industry stakeholders to ensure that new
developments and offerings take tourists’ needs into account. The management department activities
include ensuring that carrying capacity is not exceeded, pushing for environmental policies to ensure the
sustainability of the destination and managing tourists’ experience by implementing solutions to reduce
overcrowding of attractions and providing service training to tourism industry staff to ensure a seamless
experience. The marketing department, which is more concerned with short-term objectives as opposed
to the management department’s strategic outlook, is focused on promoting the destination brand and
attracting tourist.51
46 Ibid.
47 Pike, S., & Page, S. J. (2014). Destination Marketing Organizations and destination marketing: A narrative analysis of the literature.
Tourism Management , 41, 202-227. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2013.09.009
48 Morrison, A. M. (2016). Marketing and managing tourism destinations . Vancouver, B.C.: Langara College.
49 Interview with team member of the Nigerian Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
50 Interview with team member of Tourism Planning and Development, Patronato Provincial de Toursimo de Granada.
51 Interview with Doug Lansky, Destinations Adviser and Travel Writer.