While communities and elected officials are beginning to understand the social and economic benefits of tourism in their communities, it’s the need for a destination organization that they continue to struggle with. Despite our collective efforts, every year destination organizations continue to be under attack. Worse, the attacks seem to be getting more adverse and frequent. Jack Johnson will explain why Destinations International believes that to survive and prosper in the current political environment, destination organizations must become “a shared community value” and he will lead a discussion on how organizations can make this pivot and evolve into a true community asset.

1. Becoming a Community Shared Value

2. The civic & political ground on which we stand has
shifted.
We need to acknowledge that and we need to
understand that.

3. Passage of the Political Ownership Generation
Competing Political Agendas
Expected Government Revenues < Expected Government Expenses
Political Grandstanding

4. Lack of Trust + Fear = Emotional Response

5. Despite our collective efforts, every year destination
organizations continue to be under review.
The attacks seem to be getting worse and more
frequent.
And too often we are our worst enemy.

6. Destination organizations are too often finding their
relevance in a community is weak or non-existent.

7. The Cornerstone:
It supports everything from the bottom up.
It tells you why you are doing what you do every day.
It’s the foundation, the big picture, the destination.

8. The Cornerstone is
the Ideology,
the Philosophy,
the Value
of Destination Promotion.

9. #1
What is the community need that must
be filled?

10. Every community must compete
with every other community for
their share of the world’s
attention and investment.

11. #2
What is the solution required to fill the
need?

12. People need to…
…be aware of a community.
…be shown that a community is a destination and
have a clear and defined impression of it in their
mind.
…understand that destination and want to visit
that destination to experience the community and
its people for themselves.

13. #3
Why are destination organizations the
solution to filling this need?

14. Strategies to achieve awareness, positive
impressions and the desire to travel and share
that experience. Tactics that include brand
development and management, promotion,
marketing, sales, visitor engagement.

15. #4
Who are we helping - who is our
customer?

16. Support of destination promotion is for the benefit and well-
being of every person in a community. It is a common good,
a public good. It is an essential community investment to
develop opportunities and build quality of life to benefit the
people of a destination.
Residents are the customer.
Residents are the ones you are helping.

17. Responsibilities - You need to…
ü interact with residents and their elected officials regularly and often
and you need to speak their language.
ü know your community inside and out.
ü reflect your community and all its diversity.
ü operate in a transparent manner.
ü be a proper fiduciary of public monies and proactively prove it.
ü include community stakeholders in your decision making process
and the rollout of any major initiatives.
ü have a strategic plan that incorporates this approach and have an
advocacy & community engagement plan.
ü operate without arrogance.

18. We need to know the language to
use.
What specific information do people
look for and where do they currently
find it.

19. Updated Key Words In The New Tourism
Vocabulary
Community Family Help Local Need
Opportunity People Program Provide Public
Service Support Work

20. What’s Next?

21. The
Community
Shared Value
Notebook

22. Thank You
jjohnson@destinationsinternational.org