Tourism and Economic Development Collaboration

Better Together: How Tourism and Economic Development Organizations Can Collaborate to Attract Visitors, Business and Talent

For nearly 60 years, Development Counsellors International (DCI) has worked exclusively with EDOs to help them attract corporate investment and DMOs to help them increase visitor arrivals and spending. Given this specialized focus, DCI is increasingly being called on by both types of organizations to help develop talent attraction marketing programs. Understanding that these efforts can only be strengthened by partnering, DCI set out to query both the tourism and economic development industries on how these two organizations might collectively address this growing challenge.

This study summarizes responses from an online survey of 69 economic development organizations and 80 destination marketing organizations on the perceived challenges and opportunities with working with their EDO/DMO counterparts.

Four key takeaways emerged from our research:

1. Today’s Visitor is Tomorrow’s Talent (or New Employer or Meeting Planner).
2. There is Room to Improve Collaboration.
3. DMOs Have a Competitive Advantage When Marketing to Consumers.
4. Talent Attraction Can Grow Your Organization’s Credibility and Value.

Have a question about this study? Reach out to Robyn Domber, Vice President Research, at [email protected].  Want to schedule a Talent Attraction Workshop for your stakeholders to better collaborate with your DMO or EDO counterpart?  Reach out to Rebecca Gehman, Managing Director Talent Attraction, at [email protected]