Project

Iterative strategy development in tourism industry with a focus on sustainability

Challenges

A newly established tourism destination team faces multiple challenges:

Dependency on public funding
The need to cooperate with various public institutions (universities, nature parks etc.) that have very different interests
A multi-faceted political landscape where several regional players want to be at the forefront of public recognition – even though the perception of the region precludes the separation into different entities
The recognized need to develop tourism in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner, precluding damage to nature and social infrastructure of the region‘s inhabitants
A young, growing team with changing composition

The team is very purpose-driven and sees ESG topics as crucial to their purpose without naming them such.Therefore, we started with:

A Purpose and Value Proposition Canvas to identify what the team finds purposeful, key customer and stakeholder groups and the value-add the team would bring to each of those groups in line with the team purpose
Design Thinking elements with empathy interviews, persona creation, prototypes and testing of those prototypes for different offers regarding sustainable, eco-friendly tourism that involves the social landscape of the region
The creation of a strategy road map and iterative implementation planning including KPIs for three years
Establishment of a clear team structure with team canvas to keep focus
Enablement and training for team leadership (digital leadership skills, project management, marketing, personal development and resilience, stakeholder management, presentation and persuasivness in writing, communication skills)
Leadership coaching for team development

Growth from a team that manages part of a region to a team that manages the entire region plus a neighbouring one in 1,5 years
Solid positioning of ESG tourism offer with various stakeholder groups (public and private sector)
Measurable increase in touristic activity of the predefined customer groups even during COVID

Go for bold—even if it sounds idealistic. When the team started thinking about its purpose and how they wanted it to come to life, ESG and sustainability were still nice-to-have topics. Now, they have moved to the forefront of the agenda!
Structure helps every team. Working through the central elements of team governance and collaboration structure and making them stick, is still a good recipe for success
Good leadership also means to be decisive when things do not work in a team. Making tough personnel decisions ultimately aids team success

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