The Impact of the Covid-19 on the Perception of DMOs About the Sustainability Within Destinations: A European Empirical Approach

ABSTRACT

Marketing and/or destination management organisations (DMO’s) must manage crises that affect a tourist destination. Recent studies suggest that, iafterthe Covid-19 crisis, demand for responsible tourism will increase. The aim of this study is to examine the role of DMOs in this scenario. The research contrasted their perception of the positioning of the destination and the changes that, as a result of the crisis, have taken place in their marketing strategy on sustainable tourism. More than 400 participants were recruited from European national, regional and local DMOs through an online survey. The data, analysed using a quantitative approach, led to the conclusion that DMOs’ efforts to promote sustainable tourism are positively associated with different regions, that crisis scenarios are turning points for improvement in organization and that DMOs establish themselves as leaders in destination communication. The findings contribute to strengthen the idea that business development in tourism destinations must tend towards responsible tourism to achieve the desired tourism sustainability.

KEYWORDS:

• DMO
• destination marketing organization
• Covid-19
• stakeholder involvement
• sustainable tourism
• crisis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).