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Draft Final Report, 19 th July, 2012 At the conceptual level, this issue is that an NTO does not ‘sell’ anything. It has no control over the accommodation being offered, the room rates, the airlines and associated air fares, how the guest is treated, etc. In destination marketing an NTO’s role is creation of awareness and interest in the destination. It is the private sector that makes and closes the ‘sale’. Another issue is that much of the marketing effort of an NTO is in branding, strengthening of an image – which properly should be regarded as ‘investment’, with a payback over a number of years rather than ‘current’ spending expecting an immediate return. There are also practical issues, chief among them is measuring the performance related targets – total tourist numbers, including business, VFR? Or vacation tourists only? Or first time vacation tourists only? Depending on the target group selected, the problem becomes one of measuring them. Generally speaking, the breakdown of visitor arrivals by purpose of visit is determined either by the immigration cards or visitor exit surveys or some combination. And here there are myriad problems concerning the accuracy of the figures ranging from visitors not indicating their correct purpose of visit (eg a business visitor stating that the reason for the visit is vacation to avoid questions as to who he/she is doing business with) to the statistical variations arising from small samples. It would appear that the best that can be done is to have performance based contracts follow the SMART principlesessentially, specific targets that can be measured unambiguously. Contract the marketing activities to one destination Management Company covering all markets and the head office marketing function. Assuming the contract was structured along SMART principles, there are a number of advantages from an organisational standpoint, viz: • assured minimum level of performance • no HR/staffing issues • stricter budgetary control However, there are significant drawbacks, among which are: • image of destination outside the control of the national government . Since the destination management company would be dealing with potential visitors (through enquiries), with the media, with travel trade intermediaries etc, the image of the country would be determined by the way the company operated • exceptionally high cost – salaries and associated overheads would generally be higher than those in the NTO, in addition to which would be a profit margin • not necessarily higher performance than direct contracting in individual markets since there are few, if any, destination management companies with the required competencies in all source markets Recommended Approach for MTB Based on the foregoing, we recommend the contracting out of the destination marketing function to destination marketing representatives in the individual markets (Antigua, UK, US) based on the SMART principles, underpinned by a coherent marketing plan. MONTSERRAT TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2012 – 2022 120
Draft Final Report, 19 th July, 2012 As it would neither be cost-effective nor practical to contract out the marketing function to just one company/agency covering all source markets, this underlies the need for a marketing coordinator at head office. 29.3.3 Building and Strengthening Capacity within the MTB As pointed out in Ch 12 earlier, the MTB is critically short of technical expertise in all areas. This is not unique to the MTB – it reflects the situation on the island, which is understandable in the light of the forced emigration of <strong>Montserrat</strong>ians in the aftermath of the destruction of the island. The need for technical assistance is accepted. However, the MTB’s experience with technical assistance has not been all beneficial. In particular, the technical assistance under TDP 2 did not result in increased capacity in the MTB – either at the individual level or at the organisational level. We are reluctant to recommend a replication of this situation for TDP 3. In the long run, the MTB cannot be run by a cadre of technical advisors – however well intentioned. <strong>Montserrat</strong>ians must be appointed to the designated posts in the MTB and, recognising that all will not have the requisite skills and experience, their capacities will have to be built up over time. There is no short cut to building capacity in the MTB. Recognising this and the need to have sound, technical advice in implementing TDP 3 and the 5- Year Business Plan, we recommend the appointment of a technical advisor to the organisation, who must have a successful track record in tourism management to include marketing, product development, access transport, etc, as well as the ability to impart his/her knowledge to MTB staff. Modalities for ensuring ‘know-how’ transfer must be part of the technical advisor’s contract. MONTSERRAT TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2012 – 2022 121
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