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Destination managers frequently describe strategies, plans, or projects in destinations as part of an overall commitment to sustainable development or sustainability in the destination. The meaning of the term sustainability, however, is highly contested in both academia and practice, and it is not at all clear what destination managers mean when they claim to act in the interests of sustainable tourism. This paper assesses the concept of sustainability and its operationalisation by destination managers at the regional destination level. Our international, comparative study examines two destination regions that emphasise nature-based tourism, the Tyrolean Oberland, Austria, and the South Island of New Zealand. Twenty-two high-ranking destination managers representing 20 destinations were interviewed. We demonstrate how colloquial, academic, and applied interpretations of sustainability are tangled and intertwined in day-to-day destination management. The types of destination management interventions that are described as sustainable and the extent to which the economic component of sustainability is prioritised vary strongly across destinations and destination regions. The study results demonstrate that in order to achieve sustainability in destinations, stakeholders need to develop a shared understanding of what constitutes sustainable destination development, and how it can be meaningfully operationalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destination management studies emphasize the multiple functions involved and the need for these to be integrated and coordinated but pay little attention to questions of functional interdependence, that is, to the way in which different functions complement and support each other and thereby strengthen the overall management of a destination. This paper explores the issue of interdependent destination management functions empirically through an analysis of in-depth interviews with practitioners in New Zealand. Destination management is associated with balancing supply and demand and is commonly seen to encompass supply-side functions of product development and operations and to a lesser extent those functions associated with managing the interface between the destination and other facets of the territory in which it is located: planning, consultation, advocacy, facilitation and environmental management. Destination marketing is generally perceived as a distinct and separate demand-side function. A conceptual framework of interdependent destination management functions is then presented which systematically shows the interrelationships between those functions which link supply and demand and the interface management functions which address the cross-over between destination and territory. Implications of the framework for researchers, practitioners and policy makers are then outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism destination marketing is now widely recognized as an essential component in the management of destinations. In harmony with the general marketing literature, which understands marketing as a management tool, some researchers understand destination marketing as a form of ‘market-oriented strategic planning’ and hence as a strategic approach to place development rather than a promotional tool. Based on the results of a case study of tourism destination marketing in the Nelson/Tasman Region, New Zealand, this article examines the suitability of tourism destination marketing as a tool and of Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) as a vehicle for tourism destination management and development. A discussion of several difficulties in the implementation of tourism destination marketing in Nelson/Tasman Region leads to the conclusion that DMOs are unlikely to be able to claim too much responsibility for destination management but that they can play an important part in the management of the destination product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]