Profession destination manager

Destination managers are in charge of managing and implementing the national/regional/local tourism strategies (or policies) for destination development, marketing and promotion.

Personality Type

• Enterprising / Conventional

Knowledge

• Geographical areas relevant to tourism

  The field of tourism geography in Europe as well as the rest of the world in order to point out relevant tourism areas and attractions.

• Local area tourism industry

  The characteristics of local sights and events, accommodation, bars and restaurants and leisure activities.

• Sales strategies

  The principles concerning customer behaviour and target markets with the aim of promotion and sales of a product or a service.

• Market analysis

  The field of market analysis and research and its particular research methods.

• Tourist resources of a destination for further development

  The study of touristic resources in a specific area and its potential for further development of new touristic services and events.

Skills

• Comply with food safety and hygiene

  Respect optimal food safety and hygiene during preparation, manufacturing, processing, storage, distribution and delivery of food products.

• Perform market research

  Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.

• Oversee the printing of touristic publications

  Manage the printing of marketing publications and materials for the promotion of tourism-related products.

• Apply strategic thinking

  Apply generation and effective application of business insights and possible opportunities, in order to achieve competitive business advantage on a long-term basis.

• Set up pricing strategies

  Apply methods used for setting product value taking into consideration market conditions, competitor actions, input costs, and others.

• Plan digital marketing

  Develop digital marketing strategies for both leisure and business purposes, create websites and deal with mobile technology and social networking.

• Recruit employees

  Hire new employees by scoping the job role, advertising, performing interviews and selecting staff in line with company policy and legislation.

• Manage distribution of destination promotional materials

  Oversee the distribution of touristic catalogues and brochures.

• Lead the brand strategic planning process

  Manage the strategic planning process of the brand as well as provide innovation and progress in the strategy planning methodologies and improvements for consumer communication in order to base innovation and strategies on consumer insights and needs.

• Manage staff

  Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.

• Manage budgets

  Plan, monitor and report on the budget.

• Build a strategic marketing plan for destination management

  Create a framework and general direction for marketing activities surrounding a tourist destination. This includes market research, brand development, advertising and promotion, distribution and sales.

• Coordinate efforts of stakeholders for destination promotion

  Monitor with relevant stakeholders, such as business owners and government institutions to develop a cooperative product or promotion campaign.

• Manage production of destination promotional materials

  Oversee creation, production and distribution of touristic catalogues and brochures.

• Execute marketing plan

  Carry out all the activities involved in achieving specific marketing objectives within a given timeframe.

• Build business relationships

  Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.

• Build a network of contacts with suppliers of tourist services

  Establish a widely spread network of suppliers in the tourism industry. Prepare the best possible package and tourist services.

• Select optimal distribution channel

  Choose the best possible distribution channel for the customer.

• Supervise crew

  Supervise and observe the behaviour of employees.

• Assess an area as a tourism destination

  Evaluate an area by analysing its typology, characteristics and its application as a tourist resource.

• Coordinate public-private partnerships in tourism

  Oversee public and private partners to achieve touristic development.

• Oversee the design of touristic publications

  Monitor the design of marketing publications and materials for the promotion of tourism-related products.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB