European DMOs care more about environmental sustainability
When the marketing company Sojern checked the data and found that European DMOs are paving the way for conscious environmental sustainability. In fact, 62% of the European respondents are “strongly prioritizing environmental concerns”, compared to 29% of the Canadian DMO respondents and a meagre 8% of USA-based DMO respondents.
So why is this?
The regional differences are very clear. But also keep in mind that the survey is based on 300 respondents that range from city tourism organizations to regional and local or municipal organizations (26% and 21% respectively), and several other categories. The study is also mentioned to highlight Europe and North America (alphabetical order, thank you very much). More than two fifths of the respondents had 10 or fewer employees, so one logical question is whether this has any impact on the data quality (larger organizations tend to have a larger commercial user base, i.e. bottom-line that correlates with the national economy).
It comes as no big surprise that most DMOs are smaller, the figure 150 employees only reached by 7% of the respondents.
What does this mean for you?
Environmental sustainability does matter. Over the long term, it will become part of the ordinary discourse in the world of tourism destination marketing. You may not see an immediate benefit to your hotel or travel tour, but it is advisable to bring up the topic for your longterm planning. How will you respond to tourists that have questions about sustainability in the context of your travel business? Are there any business opportunities or risks associatd with tourism destination sustainability?
