Destination Development and
Institutionalization Strategies
In the OIC Member Countries
22
Table 1: DMO Departments52
Nigerian Ministry of Information,
Culture and Tourism
Granada DMO Guam DMO
Scope National Regional Regional
Departments 1. Finance and Administration,
2. Planning, Research & Statistics,
3. Domestic Cultural Operations,
4. External Cultural Relations,
5. International Tourism Promotion
1. Tourism Promotion
2. Communication
3. Information
4. Planning & Development
1. Marketing
2. Management
3. Development
Source: DinarStandard
Staff numbers also vary considerably, although averaging around 16 in the U.S. A recent study by
Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), the “2015 DMO Organizational and Financial
Profile Study” which consisted of a survey of 246 DMOs from the United States, Canada and Bermuda,
reported that the median number of full-time equivalent employees among all surveyed DMOs to be 16
employees. The study found a great variation in the number of employees based on the budget size of the
DMO, with DMOs that have budgets of less than $1 million having a maximum of 5 employees, DMOs with
a budget between $1 and $5 million having a maximum of 15 employees, DMOs with a budget between $5
and $10 million having a maximum of 25 employees, and DMOs with a budget of more than $10 million
having an average of 60 employees.
Staff, in the U.S. study by DMAI, were primarily allocated to marketing, business development, and visitor
servicing departments. The study also indicated an increase in staff allocation to areas of sport/event
marketing, convention sales, visitor servicing, and travel trade support. The study found that on average
25% of the staff of the surveyed DMOs were allocated to marketing and communications, 23% to general
administration, 18% to convention sales, 13% to visitor services, 7% to sport/event market, and 5% each
to trade travel and convention services and housing. With regards to staff salaries, DMOs surveyed in the
context of the DMAI study reported allocating on average more than half of their budget to marketing and
promotional activities, and more than a third to employee salaries with the rest mainly spent on
administrative expenses. The bigger the budget of the DMO, the higher was the percentage allocated to
marketing and promotional activities and the lower was the percentage allocated for employee salaries
out of total expenses.53
2.2. Tourism Industry Stakeholders
Identifying Stakeholders
There are several types of stakeholders, shown in the following diagram, that need to be considered in
developing destinations. DMOs need to cultivate relationships with stakeholders, understand their needs
and coordinate with them to increase the efficiency of usage of resources.
Given that stakeholders’ interests can be divergent, the DMO needs to create a balance between the
different interests in a way that ensures relationships between stakeholders are preserved. Destination
managers may need to help develop and use legislation to ensure that different stakeholders’ interests
are protected and that best practices are used to ensure the sustainability of tourism products. 54 Some
destinations such as Amsterdam have introduced regulations to ensure the welfare of local communities
from negative impacts associated with high number of tourists and also regulations to safeguard the interest
52 For more information on the mentioned DMOs, please refer to the case studies chapter.
53 Destination Marketing Association International (2015). DMO Organizational and Financial Profile Study
54 Buhalis, D. (2000). Marketing the competitive destination of the future. Tourism Management, 21(1), 97-116. doi:10.1016/s0261-
5177(99)00095-3