Report Overview

DMOs hold a special position in the tourism industry. They can be envisaged to be at the helm of the industry in a sense that they bridge all relevant stakeholders and act as a central communication channel with access to enormous data of both the stakeholders and the consumers.

The last two years have proven to be an extremely challenging time for DMOs. The entire industry was being put on hold, and DMOs had an additional unprecedented responsibility to their audience: encouraging people to travel less and even avoid traveling.

 Skift Research conducted its Destination Marketing 2022 survey in December 2021 to know how Covid impacted the working of Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs). In addition, we interviewed executives from seven key DMOs to get additional insights from the ground.

Through our survey findings and industry discussions we aim to assess how DMOs reacted to and dealt with the pandemic and make sense of what the future holds and how DMOs will shape up in 2022. These findings will be particularly useful for DMOs to gain peer insights, executive interviews and Skift analysis that can help them optimize their own strategies and for other travel industry stakeholders to push their DMOs to work in the right direction.

What You'll Learn From This Report

  • The pre-Covid setup of DMOs
  • Impact of Covid on DMO operations
  • DMO responses to Covid in shifting roles, priorities and marketing strategies
  • Recovery aid and timeline
  • Marketing spends, channels and priorities for 2022
  • Emerging trends in destination management for long-term recovery

Executives Interviewed

  • Chang Chee Pey, Assistant Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board Marketing Group
  • Chris Heywood, EVP, Global Communications, NYC & Company
  • HE Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, Undersecretary of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi
  • John De Fries, CEO, Hawaii Tourism Authority
  • Nina Zantout, Head of Strategy and Deputy Director Destination Management & Corporate Development, visitBerlin
  • Robert Dougan, Executive General Manager of Strategy and Research, Tourism Australia
  • Representatives of the Azerbaijan tourism Board