Destination Marketing Organisations

Chapter 2

The Rationale for Destination MarketingOrganisations

Chapter Perspective

Although the first DMOs were established over a century ago, most have only emerged in recent decades. While a myriad of private and public sector organisations have vested interests in different aspects of society relating to tourism, no other entity has such an active and holistic interest in the quality of the traveller experience, the host community’s sense of place, and the profitability of tourism businesses. It is now difficult to imagine a tourism industry without DMOs. An important issue in the development of DMOs has been the role played by governments in their establishment, at national, state and local levels. While entrepreneurs in many areas have ...