The power of connection: Why destination leaders need a single view of performance

No matter where they are, no matter the place they represent, the leaders of today’s destination marketing organisations (DMOs) all want to bring success to their organisations and their wider communities. But as they work to accomplish this goal — as our Smarter destinations, smarter decisions playbook sets out — the lack of a single view of an organisation’s many activities can be a barrier to its onward achievement.

Below, we’ll explore why a wider, comprehensive understanding of a DMO’s performance isn’t just a luxury, but a necessity for leaders seeking to achieve real outcomes and true success for their destinations.
 

The pitfalls of traditional reporting

More than ever before, sector professionals are under pressure to demonstrate value in their activities. Regardless of the places they represent, destination leaders are all asking themselves the same questions:

• “Which activities will deliver the strongest results for my organisation?”
• “Which stakeholders are most engaged with our work?”
• “Where are opportunities for success emerging?”
• “What activities should we prioritise next?”

The challenge in addressing each of these questions is that many DMOs rely on conventional methods of data reporting — whereby multiple reports are generated from multiple systems — to understand their performance. While this can provide deep, detailed analysis into marketing, stakeholder, partner and business event activities, it doesn’t offer the comprehensive level of visibility needed to help DMOs move forward.
 

Better together: The benefits of connected data

Conversely, by connecting their data, DMOs gain a comprehensive level of insight, something that enables them to make the shift from activity reporting to understanding — and even influencing — the outcomes of their success. By joining up their data, DMOs can benefit from:

• Faster decision making. This means less time spent gathering and analysing information.
• Better collaboration. In a joined-up environment, both objectives and reporting are shared.
• Improved accountability. This transparent view offers clearer stakeholder reporting.
• Greater confidence. With every decision backed by hard data, strategy is streamlined and simplified.
   

A real-world example: Visit West

Even as a concept, the power of connected data is hard to deny. But the experience of Visit West, a Granicus Destinations client, stands as a real-world example of the benefits of connected data. As an organisation, it recently implemented the CRM in order to bring a sense of clarity in its approach to its handling of data.

Prior to implementing the CRM, Dan Mills, head of commercial and industry engagement at Visit West, said, “We were using multiple spreadsheets across the organisation, so there wasn’t any consistency in our approach. It was hard to extract any sort of meaningful data … and it was quite laborious to do simple tasks.”

But by bringing data, communications, and member information together in a single platform, Visit West has now created a shared, organisation-wide view of its relationships and activities. Thanks to this, teams within the organisation can instantly access a complete picture of member interactions. By implementing the CRM, Visit West has eliminated information silos, reduced manual effort, and ensured that all staff are working from the same source of truth. Today, the local visitor economy partnership’s (LVEP) staff spend less time searching for information and more time driving positive outcomes for their community.

However, for Visit West, the value of connected data has extended beyond operational efficiency. By connecting member activity, marketing benefits, and performance metrics, the organisation can clearly demonstrate the impact it delivers while enabling smarter decision-making, improving engagement, and advancing its mission to grow the visitor economy in the West of England. Today, says Dan, “The data that we pull out is a lot more meaningful.”

By sharing a single system and one view, organisations can achieve tangible outcomes and true success for their communities and the places they represent.