Case Studies and Templates

Different types of partnerships and their value to the DMO

Brand partnerships are one of the greatest untapped opportunities for DMOs. When partners join budgets, creative assets and a market strategy, there is a huge opportunity to boost demand and have a real impact throughout the visitor cycle, from early-stage awareness-building right through to realising that in bookings.

To get the right partners on board, it is essential to own a good deal of creative scoping, entrepreneurship and pitching. As a DMO, your strength is in being the creator, investing in powerful compelling storytelling and offering a rich brand experience. In this report, different kinds of partnerships and alliances will be presented.

Content Partnership

Sponsored content is the intersection of native advertising and branded content. But what is branded content? Branded content is content that does not involve traditional advertising. It can include articles, videos, podcasts, and even live elements that bring relevant value to the user. Branded content marketing focuses on people, their stories, their lives and their link with the brand of destination.

Industry Partnership

With an industry partnership, the aim is to build an alliance within the travel industry that can positively impact different players that share the same ambition. Wonderful opportunities are offered by partnering with attractions and service providers; yet, the most relevant partnership a DMO can build to drive tourists to the destination is with transport providers.

Niche Market Access Partnership

If the goal of the DMO is to get access to a segment of the market with niche interests and specific qualities, the best partnership happens with brands that position themselves as leaders and authorities for that specific market. The idea here is to take advantage of the already established reach of the partner to become authorities for all those people that belong to that particular niche market.

Sustainability-led Partnerships

Sustainability is becoming increasingly critical for any type of organisation. Moreover, the number of businesses and organisations that are committing to encourage a sustainable way of operating is rising. Hence, DMOs have an important role in advocating sustainable development for the whole destination, adjusting their strategy, setting the right parameters and strengthening, together with the rest of the industry, the responsibility to act for the common good.

Innovation Partnerships

These are the partnerships that aim to boost innovation and enhance the adoption of new technologies. It might sound impossible - or maybe it is - to have the resources to keep up with the daily technological advancement. In this case, establishing partnerships with leaders in the tech industry could be a great way to come up with a highly-advanced product.

Criteria to evaluate partners and set your goals

When selecting your partners, you want to assess them in relation to your organisational values, expectations and ambitions. The authority is the value that your DMO will benefit from as a result of a successful collaboration with your partner. The authority is represented by the audience reach, the market share, the expertise and the media of your partner. Identifying the right partner means paying attention to four key elements: the brand match, the audience match, the reach and volume, and the richness and depth.

Brand match

First and foremost, ensure the relevance of your partners' brand for your brand. You need to identify the perfect brand match. If the connection between DMO and partners is not strong, it may not be worth time and investment.

Audience match

Ensure your partner is guaranteeing you the access or a wider reach to the audience you are aiming to target. Consider your partner as a further channel to reach out to that specific segment of the market that you want to attract and that will bring high-quality visitors to your destination.

Reach and volume

The media you choose to work with need to ensure the right reach and volume in the segments or markets you are trying to reach. It is, in fact, essential to establish a critical mass that makes the time and budget invested worthwhile.

Richness and depth

Building a successful partnership is the opportunity to create something mind-blowing. Working with great partners has nothing to do with the ordinary work, but needs to be considered as something unique, the greatest opportunity your DMO has to create high-quality content and unforgettable products and experiences.

Additionally, the best way to build the most successful partnerships and alliances is by following these three key steps:

• Recruit the best partners following the four criteria presented above. Encourage a fair and transparent collaboration, create a great sense of community of people that work together for the same outcome.
• With a plan and a great 365 calendar for processes, achievements, deadlines and the right measurement methods in place, you know what to expect from the short-term mission and long-term vision.
• Be ready to reach compromises and agreements with your partner, but never forget the full picture. Your brand is the most important thing and should not be affected. Retain control over quality and creativity and manage the activities according to the contract.
  

Sustainability Led Partnership

Sustainability is one of the main drivers in boosting the growth of any organisation. If, in the past, sustainability was characterised by three main components, such as economic, social and environmental, more recently, it seems that the main focus has shifted largely onto the environmental and social impacts that organisations hold, to the detriment of pure profit.

If 'sustainability' is changing its meaning, the responsibility of every individual in defending the general wellbeing in our society is not. Tourism has a humongous impact, like every industry, but it can strive to become more sustainable. Often, what is promoted through tourism is at risk of degeneration. In our travel industry, where every experience is possible, it is essential to remember that resources must be managed and communities must be respected.

The entities you decide to work with and the partnerships you establish can help you grow sustainably or have a "sustainable" impact across the industry. We shall dare say that sustainability is the new green gold and has provided us with a series of best practices that show how it is possible to collaborate in the industry, also among competitors.

Players of the same industry and competitors started to collaborate in order to encourage people to travel more sustainably. For instance, KLM, Thalys and NS Dutch Railways have joined their efforts to reduce the footprint of their customers. Often have they promised to take action against climate change, and this last initiative aims to replace flights between Brussels and Amsterdam. The plan will be effective in March 2020, with KLM, the Royal Dutch Airlines, replacing a daily service between Brussels and Amsterdam and encouraging people to take the train instead of flying, to reduce CO2 emissions.

Of course, this sounds just right: Major players in the travel industry reacting to the climate emergency with a bold and audacious decision. However, the reasons leading to this can have various nature, and not only be environment-focused; for example, this can be a tactical way of decreasing the number of passengers when the supply of the airline cannot keep up with the demand of the market.

Despite the multiple factors that are crucial if we want our organisation to grow sustainably, the next example will present how organisations are taking action against climate change.

Travalyst

Stated that our society nowadays cannot live without travelling, it is time to start big and bold initiatives and drastically change the impact of travel. HRH The Duke of Sussex has led the creation of the foundation “Travalyst” together with the collaboration of some of the biggest players in Tourism, such as booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa.

The number of people around the world taking international trips has more than doubled since 2000, and is set to increase by the same number again by 2030. As more and more people travel, so too increases the impact on the environment and local communities – and the opportunities to do good with each trip we take.

At the heart of this idea is the importance of tourism and the creation of an alliance, which responsibilities to our planet and society are shared within. This project aims to be a catalyst for change, to encourage people to explore the world without affecting people and places.

The points Travalyst bases its strategy on are:

• The impact of tourism on the environment must be positive and long-lasting: this has to do withreducing carbon emission and eliminating single-use plastic.
• People travelling has the great opportunity to see the amazing wildlife of the destination: it has tocontribute to the protection of animal and plants rather than exploitation and endangerment.
• Stress is out over the theme of overcrowding, intending to lead tourists towards less-visiteddestination.
• empowering people and supporting their well-being.

This initiative can be monitored in order to see how different players, often competitors, are taking action and how they are adapting their activities to reduce the negative footprint on the environment.

Innovation Partnerships

It is crucial to consider the DMO as the centre of excellence of the destination, an entity that leads and represent the development and innovation of the destination. This is why it is so important to keep up with the tech trends in the market and build a solid network amongst innovation leaders in the industry.

Innovation can enhance experiences, provide the DMOs with new ways of engaging with their audience and set the whole destination as a centre of innovation. Some DMOs have taken advantage of the collaboration with technology companies to deliver unique experiences and to enable the visitors, but also local people, to have enhanced services.

In this paragraph, a few examples will be provided - leaving a question open: is it the DMO to establish the partnership or does the initiative generate from the other party?

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