Changes in DMO’s Orientation and Tools to Support Organizations in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry has been hit by the biggest crisis in its history. Its effects are visible throughout the tourism industry, including the management system (DMOs). The study aim is to the determine the changes that have been taking place in the operation of the destination management organizations (DMOs) in Poland as a result, including the usage of existing or expected organizational support tools. The study consisted of three stages: desk research, diagnostic survey, and qualitative and statistical analyses. Empirical data from all 16 regional DMOs in Poland were collected, including the use and effectiveness of the anti-crisis assistance programs, expectations towards the support tools, actions taken to mitigate the pandemic effects, and the changes in selected marketing activities and support strategies in the pre- and post-pandemic period. The study results indicated the insufficient availability of tools supporting the organizations’ activities during a pandemic and little use by the DMOs of most of the tools offered by the anti-crisis programs, alongside a moderate assessment of their effectiveness. The need to modify anti-crisis programs and/or expand them to include other forms of assistance available to the DMOs was identified. The proposed research tool can be implemented to assess the necessary actions taken during the crisis in other types of tourism organizations in various regions.

How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Functional Relationships in Activities between Members in a Tourism Organization? A Case Study of Regional Tourism Organizations in Poland

“…At the same time, the research made it possible to identify the key variables describing the nature of the relationship of RTOs with members and the environment in the period of crisis, which is in line with the adopted intermediate goal of the study. The deliberations in this paper complement the considerations related to crisis management in the tourism industry so far, especially in the context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism [1,39,92,93]. This is even more important, as nowadays, given the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn faced by many countries, crisis management has again attracted organizational and research attention [20,94].…”

“…For example, travelers' tendencies to avoid a number of international travel destination types should prompt DMOs to take appropriate measures to, for example, promote domestic tourism [41]. The components of tourism offers, or products expected by tourists-who increasingly look for destinations (including accommodation facilities or attractions) that guarantee a sense of security (mainly sanitary and epidemiological) on the basis of national or regional voucher systems, certification, and recommendation with active participation of DMOs at various levels-are also changing [1]. What is important is that travelers, as a result of concerns about contracting SARS-CoV-2, will cancel or delay their trips (up until the last minute), in line with the spread of news about the scale of the pandemic in a given destination.…”

“…This, therefore, makes this research significant, not only in a scientific, but also in a pragmatic sense. The existing, and few, studies of Polish DMOs at the regional level have focused mainly on the assessment of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the current activities of the organization (mainly in the area of marketing and operational activities) [1]. On the other hand, the issue of assessing the degree and nature of the impact of crisis phenomena, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the relationship of ROTs with ordinary members of the organization, as well as with the close and distant environment, has not been addressed so far.…”

Supply and Demand in Tourism Destinations in Romania. Pre and Post Pandemic Comparative Analysis

“…The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is also visible in DMO (Fedyk et al, 2022). Drawing on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gowreesunkar, Maingi, and Micera (2021) present cases and competencies in their work to advance theoretical and empirical knowledge on post-pandemic destination management and propose new management solutions to develop the adaptive capacity of destinations and strengthen their resilience in the future.…”

Investigating the predictors of perceived social support to control COVID-19: A qualitative study

“…The new coronavirus SARSCoV2 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, Hubei in December 2019, soon spread rapidly to other countries. Due to the growing number of infection in China and other countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) described the pandemic as a global health threat, on January 30, 2020 [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. As a result, many countries set nation-wide quarantine and lockdown rules to prevent a further spread of the virus.…”