Travel Megatrends 2020: Tourism's New Competitive Advantage Is Protecting Destinations

It seems almost quaint to think that, not too long ago, the job of tourism boards and destination marketers could be described so simply: Get more people to visit your destination. In an age where local residents from Barcelona and Venice to Boracay Island are protesting tourism itself, measuring success by swelling visitor numbers no longer feels relevant. The holy grail of a sustainable yet lucrative tourism industry has, by definition, come to mean tourism that local residents and stakeholders feel good about too. Realizing this goal presents myriad challenges. Tourism boards and destination marketers have very different configurations around the world, including government agencies that can set 10-year plans (and allocate the resources to achieve them) and private-sector membership bodies that exist solely to help the bottom lines of their profit-motivated members. In addition, many of the destination marketing outfits — creative and committed as they are — don’t have the expertise or resources to effortlessly adapt to a management-based approach overnight. The trendline is crystal clear: Destinations that are to remain competitive and attractive to visitors for years to come will have to start protecting their communities and cultural capital now. This shift in approach requires reimagining the way that destination marketing and management intersect — as well as incorporating the concerns