The Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) structure will co-exist with LEPs. Unlike LEPs, DMOs will have a specific tourism (or destination) remit. DMOs will generally be smaller sub-national structures and may reflect existing DMO (or other) partnerships. DMOs do not have to follow political boundaries- the more successful models will be more attuned to visitors’ perceptions of a destination or may link juxtaposed administrative areas into one destination. DMOs may be funded through a LEP but not necessarily.

Continuing support for tourism through public sector funding may well carry on through local authorities (LAs), especially where there is a well-developed and well understood tourism component within the local economy. However, it is expected that in order to gain any level of governmental or national agency support, local areas do not compete with one another to create duplication or lack of coordination, as has sometimes been the case with regional or LA promotions in the past.

DMOs may not provide blanket coverage for the whole country. For areas that have decided not to include tourism as one of their key economic priorities or where there is a weak or dispersed product (this might include some remote, rural or industrial areas) VisitEngland can still provide a ‘tourism organisation of last resort’ so that if a tourism business in such an area needed to be developed or to promote itself, the mechanism would still be there to do so.

VisitEngland is liaising with DMOs and tourism delivery partners to assist them through the change. The ‘rules’ of the transition may change according to need and to deal with the evolving structure.

VisitEngland has established a Pathfinder DMO programme. Five DMOs (Bath, Peak District and Derbyshire, The Broads and Manchester) have agreed to share their experiences as they tackle the challenge of reduced funding and changing delivery landscapes. They will share their experiences on:

• Developing new funding models
• Establishing relationships with emerging LEPs
• Engaging the private sector to contribute to destination marketing activity
• Developing mutually beneficial activity with Business Improvement Districts in their areas
• Widening their business membership to non-tourism businesses and adapt to take on wider roles such as place marketing and inward investment roles

The Pathfinders will help to establish a peer to peer network of destinations so that as they assess potential solutions they can use expertise from other destinations at the same time as sharing their own. 

VisitEngland continue to pursue sources of funding to assist with transition for Destination Management Organisations. The Regional Growth Fund application by VisitEngland is also an opportunity to support transition of delivery structures, through providing funding for activity to assist in attracting private sector leverage at the local level, to be retained at the local level.