Sustainable Destination Management

Strategies in the OIC Member Countries

Introduction

Multi-Destination Tourism (MDT) has gained a lot of attention recently with international

organizations such as the UNWTO and UNESCO playing an active role in the development and

promotion of transnational tourism and MDTCs through various initiatives including the Silk

Road and the European Cultural Route program.

MDT, as opposed to the traditional single-

destination model that has one destination/country competing for a share of the tourism

market, is based on the cooperation between two or more destinations/countries to realize

several potential benefits from attracting new markets to collaboration in areas of product

development, marketing strategies, and travel policies.

MDT allows for the development of unique packages with a variety of products using the

natural and cultural attributes of each destination/country, which has the potential of

attracting niche markets and increasing market share.

It should be noted that while MDT can

refer to visiting more than one destination in the same country, in this report, it is used only to

refer to visiting destinations in more than one country. MDT can be classified into four patterns:

the “trip chaining” pattern, the “regional tour” pattern, the “base camp” pattern, and the “en-

route” pattern.

Figure 6: Multi-Destination Tourism Patterns

Source: European Travel Commission (2018)

The “trip chaining” pattern is the traditional way that involves visiting several destinations that

are distant sequentially, such as the European group tours organized for tourists. The “regional

UNWTO (2015), Affiliate Members Global Reports, Volume twelve – Cultural Routes and Itineraries, UNWTO, Madrid.

Orozco, Julio, and Charles, Amanda. 2014. Multi-Destination Tourism (MDT): An Opportunity for Diversification and

Development. Asociación de Estados del Caribe.

Ibid.

European Travel Commission. 2018. Tracking Multi-Destination Travel in Europe from Long-Haul Source Markets – US,

China, Japan and India.