The 2nd Meeting of the Task Force for Destination Management, chaired by the Minister of Tourism of Malta, H.E. Mr. Michael Refalo, took place…
The 2nd Meeting of the Task Force for Destination Management, chaired by the Minister of Tourism of Malta, H.E. Mr. Michael Refalo, took place in Berlin, on 6 March 2003 during ITB. More than 20 representatives from various tourism destinations and the private sector participated in the meeting, taking the opportunity to weigh up the challenges and to share good practices.
The Destination Task Force is an advisory, informal and operational platform of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and its mission is identifying the needs and concerns of local tourism destinations and contributing to the global strategy of WTO for Destination Management.
During the meeting, Mr. Refalo stated that Successful destination management calls for unity of purpose, less duplication of efforts, an integrated approach and shared knowledge through regular interface with partners and stakeholders. When a destination is fortunate enough to possess a variety of natural as well as man-made attributes and attractions supported by related structures, a first sine qua non is proper integrated management.
Dr. Brent Ritchie from the University of Calgary, Canada and the Chairman of the WTO Education Council, made a presentation on the methodology of Destination Competitiveness Index which analyzes and ranks the ability of the various types of tourism destinations to effectively develop and manage tourism, provide visitor satisfaction and conduct tourism in an economically, culturally, environmentally sustainable manner.
Dr. Karl Wober from Vienna University and Technical Advisor to the European Cities Tourism, pointed out the assessment issues for city tourism management and the necessity for obtaining comparable and reliable data, using similar survey methodologies which will assist the city tourism managers in their market planning. Ms. Britta Oertel from Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment, Berlin, presented the outline of the WTO Business Council WEB Based Survey on user needs for marketing destinations online.
Finally, as an important outcome of the meeting, the Task Force welcomed the proposal of the Secretariat`s proposal on launching a Destination Network which can be a very helpful instrument for the Destination Management Organizations to exchange know-how and good practices related to destination competitiveness. The network with subordinate groupings will be designed as an information exchange system online and will focus on the management based issues and concerns of the destinations seeking performance and success.
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