The evolution of DMOs: From marketing to management in a data-driven era

What originated as destination marketing organizations have become destination management organizations. And this isn't just a name change.

These were initially born as independent entities. Now they've evolved into public, private, or mixed organizations with a fundamentally different mission. Their work isn't about just promoting the destination and driving incremental visitor numbers anymore. It's now very much related to generating social impact.

Today's DMO is about stewardship. Strengthening communities. Supporting local businesses. Finding that balance between residents and visitors alike. Any destination with this clear mission in their lens is better positioned to justify the public investment they rely on for strategic decisions and marketing campaigns.

But here's the challenge: they're having to engage with multiple stakeholders like never before.

The quality over quantity dilemma

The shift from volume to value sounds simple. It's not.

When a DMO is able to recognize that travellers from different feeder markets exhibit significant disparities in search / booking behaviors, needs and economic contributions (LOS, ADRs, accommodation types, number of travellers, amenities...), they can act on it. They can tailor their marketing campaigns and resource allocation to better optimize outcomes. They can have conversations with local stakeholders about improving accessibility. But only if they have the right data, at the right time

We see three distinct types of DMOs, each with different challenges. City DMOs focus on enhancing appeal while managing sustainable growth and collaborating with local communities. Regional DMOs are strategically led, promoting tourism across territories while understanding competitiveness. National tourism offices coordinate different markets, with larger budgets but broader responsibilities.

Every DMO is different. And we're prepared as a data provider to understand each of these nuances.

Sustainability's three blind spots

Sustainability has become a buzzword. It dominates talks at DMO events globally. But it's critical to understand it actually has three major components.

Social sustainability impacts most DMOs, especially city DMOs. They need to ensure tourism development supports wellbeing, equity, and quality of life for local communities. How do they measure this? Through periodic domestic surveys and statistical reports. The problem? That data becomes outdated very quickly.

Environmental sustainability is about minimizing tourism's impact. For DMOs heavily reliant on nature as their value proposition, this is critical. But reducing pollution? Minimizing impacts from hotel construction? These are difficult for anyone to quantify.

Economic sustainability means generating long-term stable growth while remaining competitive. Not sacrificing resources. Not creating that negative sense of overtourism.

We're helping DMOs track sustainability through our data partners. Whether it's hotels or short-term rentals, we can track how destinations are perceived from a sustainability perspective. We can break down accommodation infrastructure. Help with planning. Even support regulation and taxation decisions.

The data reality check

Here's what DMOs are actually dealing with: legacy data providers have become complacent. They're offering static, outdated, manually admin-heavy reports based on the previous month's data.

We operate in a highly dynamic industry. From one day to the next, indicators change due to macro or microeconomic circumstances, pricing promotions, countless factors. The recency of data is critical for making faster, more informed decisions.

Our recent studies show we're at 96-97% accuracy on predictive forward-looking reports. That's testament to the reliability of our data, the technology we're implementing, and the teams continuously improving our algorithms and modeling.

This gives destinations the ability to understand where hotel searchers are coming from. Where flight searchers are coming from. When demand increases or decreases. And I think that's what really sets us apart. We're encompassing hotel, short-term rental, and travel intent data all in one place.

When data drives decisions

One major DMO city in Europe used our data to calculate how many unlicensed short-term rental properties they have. They understood the potential revenue from licensing, effectively how much money they were leaving on the table. But more importantly, from a regulatory standpoint it has helped them protect housing supply for locals (creating needed transparency around urban accommodation planning), preserving community character in several of the city’s hotspots (those preventing "touristification"), and leveling the playing field with hoteliers to ensure all accommodation providers are contributing to their local economies under similar rules.

Another DMO used our performance metrics and occupancy data to estimate revenue from specific property types. This wasn't just a cost saving. It allowed them to justify investment in data providers as critical to supporting their organization.

Marketing teams have driven 20% increases in visitations from specific countries they've targeted, countries where visitors spend more in destination and represent a different type of traveler.

When a DMO sees searches from a country increasing in six months' time but realizes they don't have good connectivity, we help unlock those conversations with airlines. It's multifaceted.

Preparing for the unpredictable

The uncertainty is real. US tariffs affecting travel. Overtourism protests in the Canary Islands. These are complex to anticipate. No one has a crystal ball.

But with real-time forward-looking data, we can gauge impact. When US tariffs affect inbound travelers from Canada by 20-25%, from Europe by 8-9%, we're talking considerable volumes. As our data adapts with demand changes, we help destinations keep a pulse on what's happening.

There's no winning formula. But DMOs operating with multiple data providers need to be selective based on the incremental added value. Make sure it aligns with your three-to-five-year plan. Find a company that can advise on operations, even act as extensions to your research teams.

Often under-resourced, under-staffed, under-budgeted, there's no reason DMOs have to invest in developing their own tools. That's our expertise as a leading and innovative data provider.

The uncomfortable truth

Some DMOs have come under internal scrutiny for data accuracy. They've relied on data, presented it to stakeholders, and the stakeholders questioned it. We've supported them in justifying and proving the data is accurate.

Often it comes from lack of data expertise. Maybe they see data as nice to have, not must have. This depends on the DMO's maturity and resources.

But here's what matters: whether they have analytical research teams or rely on marketing teams to share information, they need flexible solutions. Modular options where they don't commit to “all or nothing” packages where only a third is useful. Automated reporting that doesn't require manual intervention for every stakeholder.

We're not trying to displace legacy providers. There's value in what they provide. But we can complement what exists with different data types, better accuracy, lower latency, more flexibility, and higher frequency.

Our objective is to continue working and collaborating with DMOs as closely as we can. Both as a service company and obviously as a data company as well, because there's no winning formula. DMOs need to pick and choose the specific data providers they're working with based on the added value they can bring. 

They need partners who can offer strategic guidance and, at times, act as an extension of their own research teams so they can operate more effectively. That’s where we come in.

In this industry, success hinges on access to informed, objective insights. Our role is to provide accurate, unbiased data that helps them truly understand market dynamics - empowering them to make confident, evidence-based decisions.