Project Team: Mr. Noel Murray ([email protected]), Dr. Patrick Lynch ([email protected]), Dr. Anthony Foley ([email protected])
This project commenced in December 2009 with an expected completion date of December 2013.
The Project Aim
In recent years, tourism destination management has gained considerable attention in both the literature (Baggio et al., 2010; Wilde & Cox, 2008; Sainghi, 2006) and policy documents (TPRG, 2009; TPRG, 2003). The changing face of tourist preferences has led the call for an integrated offering at a destination level (Gnoth et al., 2009; Oh et al., 2007). However, attempting to integrate disparate stakeholders has made the role of the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) extremely difficult (Sainaghi, 2006). The inconsistency in the efficacy of tourism destinations has been largely unexplained. This research study attempts to address this gap in the literature, to explicate tourism destination performance (Wilde & Cox, 2008) by examining destination management from a network lens. The prevailing belief within the literature (Baggio et al., 2010; Lemmetyinen & Go, 2009; Dredge, 2006b; Prideaux & Cooper, 2002) is that due to the fragmented nature of the tourism industry (De Carlo et al., 2008), no single organisation has the capability to manage the wide diversity of tourism offerings at a destination level (Baggio et al., 2010; Lemmetyinen & Go, 2009). Extant research has tended to view destinations as given contexts, rather than structures that can be deliberately designed. This study takes the approach that destinations can be viewed as strategic networks (nets) which are intentional structures deliberately designed involving a restrictive group of stakeholders (Möller & Svahn, 2003; Miles and Snow, 1986) for the specific purpose of creating an integrated destination offering. This view permeates the theory underlining the Industrial Network Approach (Håkansson & Ford, 2002), Strategic Management (Gulatai et al., 2000), and Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm (Teece et al., 1997; Barney, 1991).
Methods
The purpose of this research is to understand the nature of net management capabilities in the DMO and to explore the variability of these capabilities at different stages within the tourism destination lifecycle (Butler, 1980). Therefore, an interpretative multi case method is deemed most appropriate for this research study, as it affords the greatest potential for insight into the nature of these strategic net management capabilities.
Engagement
The researcher will explore interactions between the DMO and other stakeholders in the destination planning process and how the strategic capabilities of deep partnering, visioning and orchestration are utilised. Criterion sampling was used to determine the three case sites of Waterford, Kilkenny and Killarney.
Impact
This applied research will make a significant impact to the Irish tourism industry:
• Increases our understanding of the capabilities required to manage a tourism destination;
• Enhanced leverage of the resources and capabilities of actors within the strategic net;
• Clearer understanding of the nature of net management capabilities of destinations at different stages of development;
• A focused strategy for managing the knowledge component of dynamic capability development;
• The dissemination of the applied knowledge in both practitioner-based and peer reviewed academic journals.
RIKON 2013.