Destination management organizations as interface between destination governance and corporate governance

Destination management organizations (DMOs) play a major role in managing destination networks and in fostering cooperation between destination actors. DMOs are central figures in the governance of tourism destinations. However, being organizations, their operations are also judged according to their organizational efficiency and effectiveness. This paper applies the concept of corporate governance to capture these internal performance indicators, and investigates its relationship to the external performance of DMOs as promoters of cooperation. Very few studies have considered such inter-dependencies between DMO performance and destination performance; and even fewer have explicitly analysed the relationships between the destination governance and the corporate governance of DMOs. Therefore, this research uses an exploratory, theory-generating case study approach to develop testable hypotheses for future generalizing research attempts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with several destination actors, and qualitatively analysed using the GABEK toolset. From this qualitative analysis four hypotheses emerged, which generally indicate a positive link between a DMO's corporate governance characterized by a broad stakeholder involvement, an efficient way of working, visible signs of performance on the one hand, and both the DMO acceptance and the level of cooperation in the destination on the other hand. © 2012 Taylor & Francis

Part IV Italy: Case 11 Naturns/Naturno

The extant literature distinguishes sharply between corporate and community models of destination governance. In contrast, the case of Naturns/Naturno illustrates how a specific mixture of corporate and community approaches in governance can yield positive results. In particular, it shows how the existence of a network core characterized by integrative entrepreneurial leadership, an element that would in the first instance be associated with a corporate-driven destination, turns out to be a potential driver of a successful community-oriented destination development. In Naturns/Naturno, through its integrative entrepreneurial behavior, a hotel consortium has been influential in leading the transformation of the whole destination toward increased quality, strategic coherence, and innovativeness, while maintaining its community orientation

Part IV Italy: Case 12 Passeiertal/Val Passiria

The case of Passeiertal/Val Passiria illustrates how typologies of governance forms help to differentiate cases with concentrated authority from cases with an even distribution of power. In particular, it exemplifies how the interplay between DMOs and powerful private businesses can improve the competitive position of a destination. First, Passeiertal/Val Passiria has managed to develop a common strategy in collaboration with the biggest private player. Second, the whole destination is positioned with the themes driven by the player. The case also shows that property rights theory and principal agent theory may provide useful explanations as to how sustainable destination governance can be improved in situations of significant power asymmetries

From mobility space towards experience space: implications for the competitiveness of destinations

Destinations are embedded in a competitive environment, in which quality and service alone do not satisfy the customer, and are no longer useful for differentiation. Thus experiences, as a source of customer value, are gaining importance in destination management. Experiences are provided at isolated attraction points, rather than as networks within spaces. Thus, destinations are forced to provide emotional experiences along the entire tourist service chain within the destination space. The challenge is to transform the space of the tourist's movements into one of experiences. The main purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework for the mobility offer in the destination, the realised mobility and the relative experience

From destination management towards governance of regional innovation systems: the case of South Tyrol, Italy

In South Tyrol, Italy, and in other alpine destinations, the role of publicly financed tourism destination management has traditionally a strong focus on image promotion. In South Tyrol, three further regional public management organisations have recently been founded with the aim of developing the location by expanding its innovation and export capabilities, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). All four public organisations aim to increase the competitiveness of local companies through creating a more efficient management of destination and location. The cooperation between the four organisations and further public and private regional stakeholders might be regarded as a regional innovation system (RIS). This paper aims to analyse and discuss within the frame of a case study, the structure of the cooperation between the four public organisations and if it can be regarded as a developing South Tyrolean regional innovation system. The paper aims to focus on the roles of the four organisations, possible synergies and implications for regional governance

Cooperative resorts: An analysis of creative integration strategies in community destinations

Hotel resorts may be understood as stand-alone, large-scale tourist operations. Hotel resort development provides a sometimes criticised but repeatedly followed path towards efficient and effective tourism operations. However, a strong regimentation of quantitative hotel growth complicated such hotel resort development in the region of South Tyrol, Italy, and has prompted some hotel businesses to build alternative strategic alliances. These alliances can be regarded as ‘cooperative resorts’ and characteristically include the integration of spatially divided and legally autonomous hotels within community destinations. The aim of this paper is to explore the nature of these observed cooperative resorts, to trace historical origins and reasons for their appearance and to investigate their impact on broader community destination networks. Based on a series of qualitative interviews, the paper finds that in contrast to enclave-type hotel resort models, cooperative resorts have a reduced tendency to segregate themselves from the respective destination networks, but rather affect their balance of power and impact on destination leadership