Destination Management System
“Destination Management Systems are systems that consolidate and distribute a comprehensive range of tourism products through a variety of channels and platforms, generally catering for a specific region, and supporting the activities of a destination management organisation within that region. DMS attempt to utilise a customer centric approach in order to manage and market the destination as a holistic entity, typically providing strong destination related information, real-time reservations, destination management tools and paying particular attention to supporting small and independent tourism suppliers.”
Frew, A.J. and Horan, P (2007) Destination Website Effectiveness – A Delphi Study-based eMetric Approach, Proceedings of the Hospitality Information Technology Association Conference, HITA 07, Orlando, USA
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A destination management system (DMS) assists a destination management organization (DMO,DMC) to collect, coordinate, and disseminate computerized information about a particular region.
The system offers support to the reservation function for local tourism attractions, facilities,and products. Most DMS developments have been led by public tourist organizations as these are traditionally charged with information provision
and marketing. Destination management systems emerge as major promotion, distribution,and operational tools for both destinations and small and medium-sized tourism and hospitality enterprises (SMTEs) locally.
SMTEs dominate the tourism provision and contribute a considerable proportion of benefits. However, most small hotels find difficult to establish their online presence and to communicate effectively with their clientele. Hence, destination
management systems have developed as interfaces between destination tourism enterprises (including principals, attractions, transportation,and intermediaries) and the external world (including tour operators, travel agencies, and ultimately consumers). Their contribution to strategic management and marketing is demonstrated by their ability to integrate all stakeholders and to reach a global market.
A DMS can offer considerable benefits, including:
- Increase business for the destination and local suppliers
- Generate revenue for the DMO and SMTEs through reservations and value-added services
- Improve communications and relationships with both individual travelers and targeted groups
- Reduce costs associated with communications and distribution.
Following on from the above definition it can be seen that a DMS is far more than just a website or online booking system. It provides a complete set of tourism management, promotion and fulfilment tools with product, business and visitor databases as its foundation.
As a minimum, a DMS platform must provide the following core modules:
