Workshop Presentation on developing a local Destination Management Plan

NameDate

Developing a Destination Management Plan

Destination Management?

Destination Management Plans

Destination Management is...

...a process of leading, influencing and coordinating the management of all the aspects of a destination that contribute to a visitor’s experience, taking account of the needs of visitors, local residents, businesses and the environment.


VisitEngland’s Definition


Or to think of it another way...


Common Vision PartnershipUnderstanding destination SWOTDestination Management Plan

Visitor Experience Clean, tidy, safe, inviting and welcoming placesAccessible destinations

Selling the destination Co-ordinated, holistic and focused marketingInformation provision

Destination Management


Aims for today

• Understanding of a DMP

• Process for undertaking a DMP

• Getting started on some of the stages of developing a DMP

• Understand how a DMP should be used

• Not a DMP in entirety but rather a starting point

Destination Management Plans?


• Over a stated period of time

• With defined roles

• With identified actions

• With apportioned resources

• With measures and monitoring

A shared statement of intent to Manage a Destination...

“ “

What does a DMP do?



A DMP Should Deliver...

• Things that actually happen...

• Less wasted effort and money

• A better experience for the visitor and wider benefits

• A clear way to assess and monitor the impacts of tourism

• Maintenance of distinctiveness

• Any destination...

• Any scale

• Any context or situation

• Any management structure

• A useful tool for the destination

• But should be relevant for all stakeholders and sectors


Who is a DMP for?

?

Strategic Fit...


• A DMP does not happen in isolation

• It should be shaped to support wider policy aims

• It should be able to influence other policies and sectors

• It should reflect the Strategic Framework for Tourism in England

• It should dovetail with local plans and Local Authority policies

MYTH

A DMP...

• Is not a magic bullet

• Is not a Business Plan

• Requires engagement

• Should be simple & focussed

• Needs leadership

• Is a dynamic process


Myth busting...

A DMP is not...

• A magic bullet

• A Business Plan

• Doesn’t need to be expensive

• Doesn’t need to be complicated


MYTH

Myth busting...

A DMP is...

• Written with business not for businesses

• A process that requires engagement

• Integral to local decision making process (e.g. planning)

• A process that needs leadership


MYTH

Myth busting...

““

The Durham Tourism Management Plan provides agreed destination development focused priorities for all organisations involved with the Durham visitor economy. It converts visitor research and industry experience into meaningful actions and targets, which can be delivered by both private and public sector stakeholders.

Craig Wilson – Visit County Durham


In Practice

““

The Greater Manchester DMP is a key tool in helping us engage with our members and stakeholders, enabling us to collectively set out priority actions and shared responsibilities across the whole destination to achieve our visitor economy growth targets.

Paul Simpson – Visit Manchester


In Practice

How to do it...


The Five Key Steps


1. Agreeing to Plan Together

2. Gathering the Evidence

3. Setting the Direction

4. Identifying the Action

5. Measuring Progress

• The DMP is for everyone and therefore should involve everyone

• It will encompass existing activity

• Its an opportunity for private sector to take a greater role

• However there will be natural responsibilities within a destination

• Don’t overlook other resources


Involvement

• A DMP is not a quick-fix solution

• The balance is around solid planning and strategy as well as actually making things happen

• However to be effective a DMP must engage stakeholders

• It will also require sign-up and sign off


Timescales


Timescales

Stage Time Req Outputs

Getting Started 1-2 months Plan of Action

Gathering Evidence 2-6 months Summary Results

Setting the Direction 1-2 months Strategic Direction

Identifying Actions 1-4 months Draft DMP

Gaining Support 1-2 months Final DMP Launched

Monitoring Ongoing Annual Report

Getting Started...


• An articulation of the end goal

• Bring support on board

• Keep everyone focussed

• Must be realistic but should be very challenging to reach

• Overly aspirational visions are pointless

• It must mean something and enable people to visualise it


Visioning

““

Our vision is to develop, deploy, and manage a diverse set of scalable and strategic knowledge management tools to serve our customers, improving the possibility of overall satisfaction among our diverse customer profiles.


Good Vs Bad...

Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Amazon.com

““


Your Turn...


What does success look like for your destination?


• Priorities (or aims) shape the direction of the DMP

• Priorities should be clear methods of achieving the vision

• Priorities should consider both current and future context

• Keep the number of priorities to a small handful

• Priorities should always be backed by evidence


Identifying Priorities

• Seasonality of tourism

• Spread of tourism activity

• Volume and value

• Increasing distinctiveness

• Stakeholder working

• Development of markets

• Quality & experience

• Developing capacity


Areas to consider...


Your Turn...


Top priorities for your destination


Top priorities for your destination

• Objectives translate strategic direction

• Objectives are the prime targets the DMP works to

• Objectives must relate clearly to the strategic priorities

• Objectives determine actions

• Objectives provide a key measurement of progress


Setting Objectives

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Time constrained

To achieve growth in the number of bed nights spent annually in GreatShire to 3.3 million by March 2018.


Elements of a good objective

“ “


Your Turn...


SMART objectives for your destination

• A clear action plan is what makes the DMP work

• Actions should be guided by the strategic objectives

• Should be actions for everyone

• Can include current actions as well as totally new ones

• All actions should be resourced and measurable


Identifying Actions

• Partnership structures & communication

• Product quality & development

• Branding and identity development

• Tactical marketing

• Infrastructure investment

• Research and intelligence

• Skills and training


Action areas to consider


Your Turn...


Actions to help deliver the objectives for your

destination

• A DMP will have a broad scope

• Needs to focus on most important and effective routes to achieve the stated aims

• Its not about including everything...

• Better to do a few things well than...

• Can be a staged or phased process


Prioritisation

• Plotting actions against competing criteria

• Time vs cost• Importance vs difficulty

• Checklists• Strategic fit• Reality of delivery

• Scoring Systems

• Ranking exercises


Methods of Prioritisation


Your Turn...

Longer Term Actions

Quick Wins

Leave out of plan and re-evaluate in

future

Back Burner until

resources allow

Str

ate

gic

Im

port

an

ce

0

10

Difficulty to Deliver

100

Website


Priority actions for the destination

• The more specific we are the more likely it will happen

• Actions should consider:

• What will it look like?

• Who will be responsible?

• Where will the money or resource come from?

• How can it be measured and monitored?


Reality & resourcing


Your Turn...

How can we measure it?

Who can do it?

Resourcesrequired

Funding source

Who leads on delivery?Who is responsible?Who else needs to be involved?

What can we measure?How can we collect the data?Who will collect it?

What is the cost?What is the human resource?Where will we get the expertise?

Public funding?Private investment?Income generation?


Resourced actions for your destination

Putting it into practice...


Engaging Others


• A DMP will involve a range of people and organisations

• DMO’s have to secure commitment

• Different audiences will do different things

• Equally they will respond to different approaches

• Negotiation is key

Monitoring & Measuring


• Lay the groundwork

• Make it robust

• But make it easy as well

• Be specific

• Know where you are starting from

• Report and share them regularly

Time for review


• DMP’s are Dynamic

• Annual review and renew will keep DMP’s current

• Plan for a wholesale review from day 1

• Five year time span is recommended

• Don’t be afraid to change

Support & Guidance...


• Describes the principles behind a DMP

• Freely available to all destinations

• Identifies the key stages and core elements

• Not a prescriptive manual


Principles for developing a DMP

www.visitengland.org/destinations


Further Support

• Examples of completed plans

• Case Studies

• Research & Statistics

• Thematic Briefings

• Signposting to partner resources


Namet. Phonee. [email protected]


Workshop Presentation on developing a local Destination Management Plan

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