Planners have long known the benefits of CSR in connecting attendees with the local community. The new Wayfinder takes that idea a step further, providing an evidence-based framework for destination stewardship—that is, community-centered tourism fostering a sense of ownership through resident empowerment and participation.
Recently launched at Destinations International‘s 2024 Annual Convention, the Wayfinder destination management tool, powered by Miles Partnership, provides the first, industry-led, evidence-based framework for destination stewardship.
Built within a tried-and-tested SaaS platform, the Wayfinder offers a clear path for destination organizations to create and advance stewardship strategies. The purpose-built software is designed to allow organizations and stewardship consultants to streamline operations and dedicate resources to the areas that matter most to destinations and the communities they serve. With a shared interest in improving community engagement and the overall well-being of destinations, the Wayfinder’s strategic partnership with Destinations International will propel industry-wide efforts to adopt a unified destination stewardship approach.
The framework was created and workshopped extensively with the Global Stewardship Innovation Lab, a group of thought leaders, stewardship practitioners and researchers across the tourism sector with a diverse mix of ethnicity, culture, gender and thinking.
“We wanted to move beyond some of the ambiguity of the term Destination Management—is it marketing or management?—and create some definition for stewardship. So part of the role for the Innovation Lab was to define what best practices in stewardship look like,” Kristin Dunne, Global Strategic Marketing Consultancy for Miles Partnership, told Prevue at DI 2024. “The Wayfinder has modules that define what an organization needs to be doing in order to take a stewardship approach. Essentially, it is caring for the destination from an economic, social, cultural, and environmental perspective.”
Going Beyond Economic Measurements
Up till now, tourism organizations have been unable to sufficiently measure or benchmark stewardship outcomes beyond economic indicators. The Wayfinder offers a visible understanding of an organization’s capability across four stewardship outcomes: (1) Economic Prosperity, (2) Environmental Preservation and Ecological Balance, (3) Social Well-Being and (4) Identification and Preservation of Culture and Heritage.
For group events, planners working with DMOs using the Wayfinder can give their attendees a greater understanding of the destinations they visit.
“By having a holistic view of their destination and the role that events have in the well-being of a destination, groups can be part of the DNA of a place and the aspects of life there,” Dunn noted. “Meetings and conferences are critical to destinations and also critical to seasonality. So providing that prosperity consistently through the year benefits the local community.”
Since the pandemic, destinations are re-evaluating how to harness the power of tourism for the benefit of both community and visitors. Miles Partnership has supported research with more than 300 destination organizations in North America and Europe that shows most residents do not feel included or involved in how tourism is developed or managed in their community, with less than 1 in 5 destination organizations reporting the contrary.
Evolving social, cultural, environmental and economic priorities are compelling tourism organizations to become more engaged advocates. This requires them to expand their role—well beyond the traditional destination promotion scope of the past—to a community-centered approach.
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