As TCI President Alberto Pezzi wrote in the March newsletter, tourism is a branch of industry that has wider effects on the national economy as a whole, affecting a myriad of supporting industries even if we rarely perceive it that way. One of the benefits of a cluster-based development has been said to be its holistic approach, a strong argument why this particular method may have much to contribute to tourism development.
1st TCI Global Conference on Tourism Clusters hosted by Dominican National Competitiveness Council (CNC) set out to find more on the subject. Four intense days were attended by 200 foreign and local delegates, lecturers, journalists and members of general public. Among them were members of TCI Board of Directors Alberto Pezzi, Juan Manuel Esteban and Alonso Ramos.
Dominican clustering efforts have so far resulted in creation of a national competitiveness plan, identification of key actors and establishment of common marketing efforts. At the moment CNC is actively working on consolidation of twenty clusters, majority of them involved in tourism or food production. Delegates had the opportunity to closely experience some of them at cluster tours. As Andres Van der Horst, Minister and Executive Director of the CNC, stated "Clusters are not only key elements in the economic development, but are also used to solve the main issues in the community. Thus, all social actors should take part in the cluster and feel themselves part of it."
"Tourism is sustainable when everyone is included." - Tamara V. Vásquez Sosa, CNC
Sustainable tourism competitiveness is a sum of many parts. It encompassess every actor, who participates the tourism value chain - which is only as strong as its weakest link. Professor Donald Hawkins and Leila Calnan offered a tangible example of this by taking a look at the variables used in various reports used to rank tourism destinations around the world. For example, WEF Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report uses categories such as regulatory framework; business environment and infrastructure; and human, cultural and natural resources. By benchmarking countries against selected competitors using different metrics it was possible for Hawkins and Calnan to illustrate the strengths and weaknessess of each destination.
They asserted that participatory of all relevant actors in the strategy development process is mandatory. It leads to greater buy-in, which in turn leads directly to greater participation in the implementation phase. Cluster cooperation needs to be built around cross-industry initiatives to bring benefits for the wider industry. Furthermore, local populations must be incorporated into the process and made aware of what is being attempted. Working closely with the public sector is essential, as they are vital while striving to improve policy and regulatory reforms essential to tourism industry growth. Finally, performance monitoring systems must be put in place.
Myopia of individual actors - working towards a common vision through coordinated actions
Elisabeth Tovar, President of the Dominican Tour Operator Association, approached the issue by first identifying the problems faced by the Dominican tourism sector and then presenting solutions. In her opinion local tourism operators have a very narrow and short-sighted perspective at the situation. Their ubiquitous basic product offering of "sun and beaches" is the same for everyone, making them direct head-to-head competitors. Tovar proposes that they should first instead identify what strengths make each destination unique - whether it's the scenery, local artisan products or historical monuments - and capitalize on that specific element. Another challenge stems from everyone acting alone without a common platform or a message. She advocates for a rigorously implemented inter-sector participatory strategy and involvement of everyone under a common vision and coordinate action.
Branding and marketing - building on unique strengths and identity
Even with all the building blocks an excellent tourism value chain alone is useless without two key ingredients: awareness and attractivity that can be nurtured through tourism marketing. Many presentors touched the subject, among them Chris Seek, who highlighted the importance of destination branding as a tool to develop a unique identity and personality for the location. As any other brand, it combines all things associated with the place, such as culture, landscapes, architecture, aestethics, festivals, nature, heritage, activities, products, services and experiences. One of the examples he used was Duoro Valley, Portugal. Despite boasting three UNESCO world heritage sites, the region had an unknown image abroad and lacked centralized tourism planning focus. Indepth analysis on the situation was followed by the creation of a destination management organization to coordinate the creation of the Duoro Valley brand and cluster building attempts. These include engaging the residents and industry, encouraging and rewarding industry adoption of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria and the creation of destination competitiveness committees. As Chris Seek reminds, however, a good brand is useless unless it is properly marketed to the audience.
Dr. Rich Harrill offered insights on the idea by presenting some creative marketing campaigns and emphasizing the importrance of social media. He reminded that contemporary global competition for travellers is fierce and the markets are saturated. Only way to survive is by staying sensitive to the changing consumer needs and by providing uniquely tailored experiences with excellent quality, while using clever ways to communicate.
Conference materials databank for TCI members
In other presentations Ifor Fwocs-Williams reminded the delegates on the role of the cluster facilitator, while Guillermo Salvatierra described the ingredients of a good cluster initiative; among them objective setting and communicating the purpose of actions, as well as plain common sense. Experiences from Dominican Republic clusters, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay were also presented in this first thematic global conference on Tourism Clusters of TCI.
These and many other presentations can be downloaded by TCI members from the conference materials databank, which also contains more than a decade's worth of materials from previous TCI events.
22 April 2010
