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Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO)

What is a Destination Marketing Organisation?

A Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) is a public or private non-profit organisation that exists to market and promote a particular destination. 

A DMO's primary purpose is to increase tourism to their destination by generating awareness and demand, ultimately resulting in economic benefits for the community. DMOs work with partners across the tourism industry, including hotels, restaurants, tour operators, transportation providers, and more. They also develop marketing campaigns and collateral material such as website content, brochures, images & videos showcasing their destination's unique attractions & experiences.

Who funds DMOs?

They are often funded by Tourism Boards, local governments or businesses within the destination. DMOs typically aim to increase visitors and their spending, while ensuring that the visitors have a positive experience. To achieve this, DMOs will often undertake marketing campaigns, develop promotional materials and provide information about the destination. DMOs can play an important role in boosting a destination's economy and making it more attractive to tourists and businesses.

Why are DMOs important?

Destination marketing organisations, or DMOs, play an important role in helping to promote and develop specific destinations as tourist attractions. DMOs research their target markets and develop promotional campaigns to increase awareness and encourage people to visit. They also work with local businesses and government agencies to help plan for sustainable tourism growth in their area.

What kind of programs do DMOs do?

A Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) works to improve the economic development and sustainability of a destination. They do this by marketing the destination to potential visitors, working with businesses to improve the visitor experience, and developing destination programs such as events and festivals. DMOs play an important role in promoting tourism and sustaining a positive experience for visitors.

How do DMOs successfully reach their target?

To achieve their goals, DMOs conduct various research and implement many marketing strategies. Before moving forward with the strategy, DMOs must research and identify their goals. A typical process can be as follow:

1. Assess customer needs by doing market research

The purpose of research is to discover unmet needs among consumers and to determine the potential for new services. At this point, DMOs might want to perform market analysis for demand, sales, and the current number of visitors. 

2. Identify and select the target market

Using the market research information, DMOs will identify the appropriate target market for their current stage. If the research shows that they have a lot of young visitors and their goal is to expand and accommodate older visitors, they put their marketing focus on that target. 

3. Develop a strategic marketing plan 

At this step, DMOs will want to instigate a strategic plan that can effectively achieve their goals. The plan should include highlighting their tourist location, price and cost for events, mode of delivery and marketing communications. As for communication, UGC (User Generated Content) can be extremely useful and time-effective in social marketing. They can work to introduce and use influencer’s content. Check out our blog post on UGC in marketing strategy for more information.

4. Develop customer relationship 

It is important for DMOs to not only reach new visitors but also retain their current customers. It is a strategy designed to optimise revenue, customer retention and customer satisfaction. Once they have built loyalty and maximised the value of each customer, their reach will automatically improve.