A destination marketing organization (DMO) is an
organisation which promotes a location as an attractive travel destination. DMOs are known as tourist boards, tourism authorities or "Convention and Visitors Bureaux".
They primarily exist to provide information to leisure travellers. Additionally, where a suitable infrastructure exists, they encourage event organisers to choose their location for
meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions, collectively abbreviated as MICE.
DMOs are generally tied to the
local government infrastructure, often with supporting funds being generated by specific taxes, such as
hotel tax
A hotel tax or lodging tax is charged in most of the United States, to travelers when they rent accommodations (a room, rooms, entire home, or other living space) in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, or other lodging, generally unless th ...
es,
membership fees, and sometimes government subsidies.
However, in many cases, the observed decline in tourism following cutbacks to public-sector expenditures has motivated the tourism industry to create a
private sector coalition in order to provide the functions of a DMO.
References
{{Tourism
Tourism marketing
Marketing organizations
Services marketing