Destination Development and
Institutionalization Strategies
In the OIC Member Countries
23
of the tourism industry players. These regulations included laws to prevent the building of additional hotels
in the city center as well as limiting Airbnb renters to only rent their home for a maximum of 60 days
throughout a year and to register their accommodation with the government. They also released a law
limiting the number of tourist shops in the historic city center.55
Stakeholder engagement is defined as “the practices an organization undertakes to involve stakeholders”.
Collaboration with stakeholders allows sharing of knowledge and resources thus enhancing collective
capabilities and adaptability enabling an increase in the value added of the destination. Furthermore,
collaboration between public and private sector partners lowers potential of conflict and increases the
legitimacy of decision making leading to acceptance of decision making outcomes and increased
cooperation in their implementation.
Destination managers need to identify all relevant stakeholders and to create proper structures and
platforms as well as dedicate the necessary human resources to involve the diverse stakeholders to achieve
synergy and benefit from the collaborative efforts and to ensure the representativeness of the different
stakeholder groups as this may create conflict as a result of the dissatisfaction for unrepresented and
underrepresented stakeholder groups.56
As a stakeholder is defined as “any person, group, or organization that can place a claim on an
organization's attention, resources, or output or is affected by that output” 57, destination managers need
to include a variety of different groups in their engagement efforts. The following figure illustrates the
various groups of stakeholders a DMO needs to engage including: tourists who are the destination’s end
consumers and as such have a claim on DMO resources, the local community which is directly affected by
DMO activities and tourism in general, tour operators and local tourism industry as they both shape the
destination product and thus can affect the DMOs output to a large extent, and government institutions
which control both the regulating and the infrastructure environment of the destination. Educational
institutions and professional associations can play an important role in assisting DMOs inmaking informed
decisions by providing relevant information and research.
Figure 7: DMO Stakeholders
Source: DinarStandard
55 Interview with CEO, Amsterdam Marketing
56 Lally, A. M., O'Donovan, I., & Quinlan, T. (2015). Stakeholder Engagement in Destination Management: Exploring Key Success Factors.
11th Annual Tourism and Hospitality Conference. Ireland.
57 Gomes, R. C. (2005). Who are the relevant stakeholders to the local government context? Empirical evidences on environmental
influences in the decision-making process of English Local Authorities. Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 9(Spe1), 177-202.
doi:10.1590/s1415-65552005000500009
DMO Stakeholders
Educational Institutions Professional Associations
Local Tourism Industry Public Tourism Institutions
• Accommodation
• Food & Beverage
• PrivateAttractions
• PrivateRecreation Facilities
• Travel Agencies
• Travel/TransportServices (airlines,
car rentals,etc.)
Global Tour Operators
• Public Attractions
• Public Recreation Facilities
• Public TransportServices
Tourists Local Community
Government Bodies
• TourismBodies
• Local Authorities
• Regional Authorities
• National Authorities
Types
Stakeholders
Activities
Funding
Governance Models