Case Studies and Templates

With an increasing demand for tourism and an expected annual growth of 4-5% in the number of international tourist arrivals, as forecasted by the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, there is no doubt that tourism is one of the major driving forces of the economy nowadays.

The tourism sector is fragmented by definition, because it encompasses many different actors and players which form part of the tourism experience. But the role of the DMO is slowly shifting from a marketing-only perspective to a management perspective. This has fostered change in the sector and today many DMOs have already started their transformation journey to become the primary subject of reference for the coordination of the tourism players at the destination.

In fact, in order to be competitive on the market, destinations need to embrace the digital era and adapt to the ever changing needs of visitors, but starting a transformation journey for a DMO is not necessarily easy.

This is why the Digital Tourism Think Tank has developed a framework to help destinations to shift their role from DMO to D𝑥O, where the “𝑥” stands for the mathematical symbol.

The focus of this type of organisation nowadays is not marketing-only anymore, it can be experience, data, management, innovation, product, partnerships, storytelling, etc.

Transformation is not an exact science. We work with a thoroughly thought-through methodology and adapt it to the unique needs of each destination fostering collaboration, transparency and productivity within the team. The transformation journey in this sense is;

Organisational

Starting with the organisation itself, we work with DMOs to become glass box brands, to transform inward to out.

Strategic

A global vision, an acute understanding of macro trends and a long-term view underpins the strategic process.

Tactical

Strategic development is translated directly through the process into planning, structuring and delivery as needed.

In a digital world, where true digital natives and the consumers are today’s workforce, we aim to engage with brands which align with their values, becoming a glass box brand , authentic and value driven inside as well as outside. Every organisation should be able to represent itself on the outside mirroring the values, long-term view and people who form part of it, it should become a glass box where transparency is one of the fundamental values and customers are aware of what happens inside the organisation.

For this reason, it is fundamental to know the values and culture rooted at the heart of the organisation before starting a transformation process. This process in itself must begin with a holistic view on the organisation, a complete look at what is driving the organisation from the values that underpin it to the workflow and delivery, aiming to get an initial snapshot of how the teams are functioning and the overall culture fostered within the organisation.

In order to assess the Holistic View of an organisation what is needed is a clear definition of the four pillars of the organisation: people, culture, values and processes. As a start, defining the answers to the following questions might be useful:

• People - How do our passions, values and individuality translate into what we do as a team?
• Culture - What can the right company culture do for the experience we deliver to our customers?
• Values - Which values drive us every day? How do these values align with those of our visitors?
• Processes -  How do we structure processes? How is the workflow and collaboration among team members?

To answer these questions, if they are unclear, a series of audit tools could represent the starting point to understand the pillars. Internal surveys are easy to produce and do not require additional costs if free platforms are used. A survey based internal auditing could benefit the organisation in understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and problem areas that employees within the organisation see.

If the answers to an internal survey are not clear enough, another method to understand the organisational issues could be one-to-one interviews carried out with the team members from an external person aimed at identifying the core issues. These methods could prove sufficient to have a holistic view and assessment of how teams are functioning and what is the overall culture fostered within the organisation.

The holistic view is also the assessment of the internal workflows, methods, processes and tactics to improve collaboration and creativity. The development of the creative angle within the organisation can be done through the application of methods aimed at supporting better interaction and collaboration. Human Centred Design, that will be further discussed, is a useful method to innovate decision making processes within the organisation.

People

People are the value in your business, so don't forget to empower them and make them amazing. People and workplace culture go hand-in-hand, ensuring the right 'fit' is key to a team.

Great businesses also think 'how can we inspire our team’?

Think about things you can do to connect people, from weekly 'show and tell' to company retreats or team building activities. Don’t forget, work is important but mental health is just as important, so make sure your people feel good.

Culture

The organisational culture is a sum of values, philosophy and attitude that characterise an organisation and its people.

Why is culture important in a workplace?

Everyone has heard about the Start-up culture or the differences between the American vs. European workplace culture, where the former is usually more informal than the latter. Keeping up with our visitor's needs, means keeping up with our own needs. This is why attracting the right talent into our teams depends on the right culture within them.

Promoting creativity in our work, requires the right environment to inspire. Supporting a fresh view on trends and change, requires a dynamic space to do so. Getting the best out of people, means at work they should feel at home. Seeing your workplace as a place for idea, might also shift what comes out of it too... keep it in mind!

If your brand is deeply passionate about cycling, a team cycling club makes sense, if tech curiosity is part of your culture, then a culture of testing and sharing tech know-how is great too!

Values

It is very important to have a clear definition of the corporate values. Values are necessary to convey the identity of the organisation, to set clear strategic goals and vision and to translate these to the brand.

Values underpin everything. The first exercise any team should do is understanding values and this is a key part of this module.

• Values underpin your strategy
• They define your image
• They shape your decisions
• They connect the dots

With values, you can work towards 100% alignment, or 'circular design' where everything you do has a logical connection with everything else that's being done.

Setting values isn't complicated either. Hold value setting workshops, start wide, ideate, try to vote on core values. Run an anonymous survey, you'll be surprised when everyone aligns! Also co-create a value charter.

When values are clear. Print them, share them, post them and abide by them.

Processes

Processes drive everything from creativity to performance to efficiency. We've shifted from working over- time to working in real-time. Today everyone should be encouraged to throw ideas into the mix and collaborate in a democratic ideation process.

Co-creation is vital to provide a greater sense of ownership, purpose and involvement. User and visitor centric design is key getting the right approach for customers. Larger teams have shifted to reflect the start-up ecosystem applying these principles:

• Agile - able to move rapidly with change
• Velocity - able to develop concepts and go to market faster
• Design - putting human centred design to ensure creativity runs strong

Here at the DTTT, we use key tools which have enabled us to transform processes:

• Mural - A design thinking tool, great for remote teams to use design thinking
• Asana - An agile team tool, great for productivity and 100% responsibility in team

Understanding the digital workflow

The digital workflow should be the heartbeat of your team. Today we depend on technology for pretty much everything we do. The way we communicate socially has shifted in the past ten years and so too has the way we communicate at work. Whilst digital is seen by many as a barrier, we want you to see digital as an enabler for your strategies and processes.

In the last few years, digital has seen a rise in completely new methods of working, in particular project management:

• The old ‘Silos’ work structure should be a thing of the past
• Collaborative work environments, fuel idea exchange and creativity
• Creativity must be rooted deeply into the process
• Soft skills are of increasing importance, with change, requiring adaptability

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