Cooperation among tourism destinations: competitiveness and competition

Competition in the tourism field is intensifying more and more. Due to the development of new technologies, it is becoming even more globalised.

Marketing operations, market visibility and the organisation of the tourism offer in local level are rarely supported by adequate human and financial resources and this can lead to disappointing results.

We have noticed a growing trend of the tourism destinations. They are cooperating in developing common strategies with the aim to reach synergies in some stages of their development project.

Planning tourism itineraries leads tourism destinations to create a strong relationship of cooperation that involves both the public and the private sector. There are many successful examples at a local level, but also at a national and international level, as the tourism itinerary Via Francigena. This is the ancient route that, during the Middle Ages, connected Canterbury to Rome and to the harbours in Apulia. Another important example is the Silk Road, a project sponsored by the European Council along with other 24 cultural tourism routes.

At Twissen, we noticed the trend, also supported by the programmes of the European Union, to the creation and development of schemes for the transnational mobility to catch the opportunities of the youth or senior tourism in medium and low season.

In this scenario, destinations are able to gain synergies related to major visibility, even on the web and on the 2.0 channels. Moreover, they obtain a more efficient commercialisation of the tourism offer, more access to the information regarding the reference target and the evolution of the market. This allows an increase in the tourist flows, less investments and more benefits for the local economy

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.