Destination Marketing and Management - Assignment Example

With globalization, competition between industry has increased to a great extend, and this has given rise to new destinations which are made affordable through effective marketing tools and strategies. In addition to the above, a new conceptual framework for competitiveness has been adopted by the tourism industry. This is because sustainable tourism can prove to be a key driver for the development of economic as well as social factors as long as it get delivered by an effective structures and strategies, and hence bringing together all resources of the relevant partners, the public, private and the voluntary groups (Terzibasoglu, 2010).

Destinations are the most difficult entities in the process of market and manage and this is because of the complexity of the relationship between the local stakeholders. The marketing and managing of the destinations are also tough because of variety of stakeholders who are involved in the production and development of the tourism and products. The strategic aims are quite different from each other and often conflicting. Consumers however tends to experience a particular destination as total experience which comprises of the essence the resources of a particular region, services as well as products which tends to represents the personal and professional interest of people living as well as working in that particular destination (Dukic, 2009, p. 25). However, global competitiveness along with tourism concentration tends to create challenges as well as problems to create customer loyalty as well as sustainable competitive advantage in the tourism market.

The issues are apparent mainly in the demand management and in the creation of images which are unique for particular tourist destinations. Tourism which has proved to be an economic activity has importance in the development of the national economy. Analysis and Evaluation There have been various discussions about the tourism literature particularly about the concept of destination. A standard and uniform definition of the term ‘destination’ has been said to be elusive as well as difficult to reach due to various implications and permutation which are associated with such an attempt.

According to Pike, (2008) with the use of System approach and also supported by the consumption pattern of the destinations by the respective consumers, thus it can be argued that destination is termed as geographical space where a cluster of resources with respect to tourism exists and not any political boundary. It has been said that the system view of the tourism industry and the environmental scanning has affected the activities of the destination level and requires integrative and comprehensive approach with respect to management and marketing.

But unfortunately the existing literature has defined and emphasised mostly on one aspect which tends to create challenge for the tourism industry. The scope and concept of destination management and marketing is well defined in the following figure. Figure 1: Destination Marketing and Management (Source: Wang & Pizam, p.6) Pike has identified three different types of organisations which are actively engaged in the destination management and marketing. They are known as DMOs who are mainly responsible for promotion, providing policy advices to the government agencies (Wang & Pizam, 2011, p.6). Strategic and tactical