The Actionable Advocacy Insight (AAI): The Perceived Effectiveness of Advocacy Strategies is the second in a five part series. This AAI provides insights from a survey of 205 local-level destination marketing/management organizations (DMOs) and 26 interviews with state DMOs and tourism advocacy associations.
These data demonstrate most DMOs engage in advocacy efforts like communicating with tourism industry partners and policy-decisions makers. They are also very likely to participate in community networking events and reporting to decision-making bodies. They feel these efforts are most effective in establishing their organization as a valued source of tourism information, influencing decisions that impact the tourism industry, and making tourism a priority among decision makers.
Beyond providing examples of potential tourism advocates this AAI offers a short, mid, and long-term strategies for tourism leaders to identify and engage with their advocates. The Perceived Effectiveness of Advocacy Strategies is available as a powerpoint file for tourism leaders to integrate into presentations for internal (e.g., staff and board members) and external (e.g., potential advocacy partners) stakeholders. Presenter notes are provided and the presentation features a “Conversation Starters” slide with questions presenters can use to initiate conversations with their audience around the definition of advocacy.
Actionable Advocacy Insights (AAI) is a five part series designed to help tourism industry leaders improve their advocacy planning efforts. It’s never been more important for the tourism industry to engage in advocacy, but advocacy efforts require planning and the strategic use of resources. Based on research conducted by Dr. Whitney Knollenberg of NC State and Dr. Ashley Schroeder of University of South Carolina the AAI series provides evidence-based strategies for advocacy planning.
- Find previous AAI releases here, including:
- Subsequent AAI topics that will be released in the coming weeks include:
- Identifying Resources to Advocate for Tourism
- Perceived Obstacles to Advocacy Efforts in Tourism
Keep up to date with Tourism Extension and the newest AAI topics by following us on Twitter @NCExtTourism and NC State Tourism Extension on Facebook.This research was funded by American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA), and supported by Southeast Tourism Society (STS).
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