Strategic Destination Management: Tools and Best Practices for DMOs

3-day (24 hours) classroom course

As a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), are your marketing strategies based on the right sources of data? Are you facing the challenge to balance tourist arrivals with the protection of your destination and ensuring a great visitor experience. Destination management is increasingly crucial in the world of travel and tourism as DMOs compete to create competitive advantages to differentiate from others and provide a sound story to why we think you should visit. While doing so, DMOs need to balance maximizing tourism arrivals and spending with protecting from over-tourism to ensurelong-term sustainability of the destination, as well as managing issues with seasonality. At IATA, we understand these challenges and have designed this course with industry experts to help DMOs build an effective strategy for promoting destinations. As a DMO professional, you will learn through hands-on exercises and case studies how to prioritize your spending on the most effective segments. You will also determine how to use technology and other tools to make informed decisions to maximize your return on investments.

Course Code: TTC035VEEN01

Course format

• This classroom course provides 3 days (24 hours) of instruction delivered by an official IATA Instructor.
• Take this course at an IATA Training Center, Regional Training Partner, or on-demand as in-house training.
• Student performance will be based on an assessment.

Prerequisites

• Recommended level is Entry-level and Intermediate.
• The recommended level of language proficiency is ICAO Operational Level 4 or the equivalent for courses held in languages other than English.

How to register

• When you click the Register button, you will be directed to log in to your Training Account.
• Register early and save up to 25% at our Training Centers! Please read the Terms and Conditions for the early bird discount.

In-house training

To arrange in-house training for your company, please complete the in-house training request form or contact the Training Specialist in your region.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Identify best practices for destination management from a marketing and commercial perspective
• Evaluate strategic tools and objectives of DMOs
• Apply relevant data to make informed and efficient marketing spend decisions
• Build an effective marketing strategy and plan
• Relate which strategies have been successful and why
• Explain new technologies and emerging changes in destination management best practices

The key topics that are covered during this course include:

• Effective destination management
• The typical “Do’s and Don’ts” for DMOs
• The value and application of historical data
• Sources of data for informed decision making
• Marketing channels and their effectiveness
• Consumer segments and geographies matrix
• Search engine optimization and social media
• New possibilities for destination marketing
• Business strategy and marketing decisions
• Effective KPIs for DMOs
• Connected and seamless customer journey
• Impact of technology on customer behavior

Activities

• Pre-course materials
• Group activities, exercises, case studies and practical examples
• Assessment

This course is recommended for:

• All DMO senior and mid-management roles
• Brand and destination strategy professionals
• Public relations experts in tourism industry
• Local tourism association board members
• Representatives of ministries of tourism, transport and/or economic development
• Travel agencies and tour operators
• Professionals aspiring to build careers in destination management

An IATA Certificate of Completion is awarded to participants obtaining a grade of 70% or higher on an assessment. A special distinction is awarded to participants obtaining a grade of 90% or higher.