Regarding the destination value chain and local economic development

The typical value chain is the combination of services that contribute to the delivery of the tourism product/experience (tour organization, accommodation, catering, entertainment, transport). Its approach suppose the establishment of circular flows of income (national, regional and local) and of an integrated product and business policy which considers the whole tourism value chain, a difficult mission.

From many studies and personal observations, I conclude that tourism SMEs have often a limited knowledge of their role in the global value chain and of the significance of the multiple linkages that occur in it. We are assisting again at the necessity of a well-established destination management organization that can help them to know the market trends, to reach more markets due to joint marketing and promotion, to know and meet their customers' requirements, to access latest technologies and solutions, innovative practices and professional training, or increase their expertise and quality of advices to clients.

The multi-stakeholder approaches, already described, are one face of the value creation in the tourism chain.

The research revealed some significant elements in destination value chain in order to offer a comprehensive tourism experience: networks, clusters and personal relationships.

Regarding the management of tourist destination

We are witnessing the need to put more accent on destination management, rather than marketing, which has been the emphasis historically, in order to coordinate and lead all the elements that make up the destination, its marketing and product management, while creating a suitable environment (through legislation, policies, regulations, etc.).

The environment of the destination is very complex and according to WEF (World Economic Forum, 2015) “identifying priorities, upgrading infrastructure, calibrating fiscal incentives and executing international marketing campaigns are among the tasks necessary to succeed in developing the sector-tasks”. Coordination and cooperation will be extremely important in this new era in which an entity’s power depends on the extent of its interconnectedness. The link at the local level, by our opinion, can be a well-established and efficient tourism destination management organization.

Leadership

As presented in the paper, the destination is a system, a network, and the leadership of the whole network will be of tremendous importance. Starting from the studied destinations, we can say that successful destinations must have strong leaders that create a common sense of purpose and provide a strategic focus for a destination.

Tourism leaders will require a global perspective in order to respond positively to crises, to political, socio-cultural, economic and environmental problems that may be brought about or exacerbated by tourism development, they must have a visionary role, engaging the tourist sector in long-term planning; have to guide and coordinate destinations' stakeholders, to lead the destination marketing, to maintain the quality standards, to protect the environment, etc. Another important task, recently appeared, is the coordination of the new ways of working that social media represents. Experts consider that through the involvement of the leadership in social media the organization gets a competitive advantage

Human resource management

Human resources represent according to experts the main strategic resource of organizations. HR development in a destination is crucial in achieving a comparative advantage in the highly volatile and intensely competitive global tourism industry.

Tourism industry already has difficulties in attracting top talent, both for technical and managerial positions. Besides, WTTC, cited in Crotti and Misrahi (2015) estimated that “the total global impact of talent gaps could cost the global economy nearly 14 million jobs and $630 billion GDP loss”. So, as this research and some experts suggest, the big challenge for the tourism industry and the destination regarding human resources is to recruit and retain the right employees.

Researchers (Crotti and Misrahi, 2015) show that “for every 30 new tourists to a destination, one new job is created. The aviation and travel sector is already the second-largest employer in the world, with huge potential for further job creation-travel and tourism is forecast to employ 338 million people by 2023”. So the need for skilled labor in tourism will be extremely high in the future and destinations should take action in this regard.

The ageing population can be seen as an opportunity, as most of the older workforce is flexible, has a strong work ethic and bring experience and maturity with them. Elderly people can act as tour guides keeping the local history alive and playing the role of ambassadors of cultural identity, as it happens in Sierra de las Nieves, Spain. Cultural mediators are also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the quality of stays in each town.

Motivating Y generation could be realized through strong training program that gives them a clear path for advancement but, for the tourism industry, this may be difficult to provide. A way to solve this problem is applied in Ireland. Here, the state is investing in training, professional development and accompanying measures for tourism business. Suitable training programs are managed at a local level by a local association in consultation with local tourism employers and an institute for certification, with certification in line with the national qualifications system in order to ensure that the training matches the demands of the industry in each region. A group of experts is planning to commence a detailed assessment of the workforce skills and competency requirements for the hospitality sector in Ireland up to 2020.

Germany also has a project to examine the specific need for skilled labor in the tourism industry, in the context of the demographic change that is altering also the labor market in the tourism industry.

Another aspect relates to the changes in the way of work because of the technology. Because work can be done anytime, anyplace and anywhere, and the employment arrangements are very diverse (part time work, second and third jobs, temporary jobs, teleworking, full or partial self-employment), tourism operators have to be able to offer less traditional ways of working and more flexibility, access to flexible arrangements for training and development, innovative strategies such as seasonal job sharing, incentives, improved employment conditions, in order to attract and retain their best talent in the future.

As the paper presented the DMO of the future will have virtual offices, so employees worldwide will be able to work together online. But these people must become an elite with unique skills, experiences, and professional attributes in order to have a more powerful and evolved structure able to lead its destination through this always changing and challenging future.

Financial management

The financial management has a fundamental role in the management of any organization including tourism organizations. Any activity must be financially supported otherwise it would be impossible, and needs to end with a financial advantage, profit, added value and for tourism also with a competitive image.

The application of financial management tools is very important for tourism businesses within the destination, as the paper presented, because:

-   finance is required at each stage of functioning (in promotion, incorporation, development, expansion and administration of day-to-day working, coordinating various functional activities (marketing, production, etc.). A proper financial administration assumes studies, analysis, evaluation of all financial problems, etc.

-   make decisions in the light of profitability and to minimize the risk involved in the plan;

-   measure the performance of the entity;

-   bring economic growth and development through investments, financing, dividend and risk management decision which helps the destination stakeholders to take better projects.