Special Features

Seeking Greater Convention Business: For the travel and tourism industry, conventions can provide major economic boosts to the host community. Regular DW contributor, Peter Tarlow, presents some new ideas for getting the most out of your convention business.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Meetings industry specialist and TEAM Associate, Tony Rogers, takes an in-depth look at an innovative and pioneering way in which two new meetings venues have included a CSR focus throughout their development.

Do You Really Need New Customers? Those of us involved in hospitality often forget that we are a mere spoke in that wheel called retail and that there is much we can learn from the way in which the retail industry is managed, according to hospitality specialist, John R Hendrie.

Tourism Recovery from Political Instability: The reputations of Thailand and Greece, two significant tourism destinations, have suffered recently and both countries must begin to rebuild confidence. Crisis recovery specialist, David Beirman, urges a strategic approach.

Tourism is Export: The recent Icelandic volcanic eruption that closed down much of the world's transportation system serves as a reminder of tourism's economic importance. Peter Tarlow suggests that tourism is perhaps one of the world's premier export products.

Credit Crisis... Beyond the Numbers: 2009 became the year of the Credit Crisis. Anita Mendiratta, strategic advisor to CNN International's TASK Group, examines the new business models required to generate secure, sustainable results within the T&T sector.

Sports Tourism: There is little doubt that sports and athletics play a major role in tourism. Tourism events specialist and regular DW contributor, Peter Tarlow, offers some ideas for developing a sports tourism programme that is right for your destination.

Conferences and meetings: Where are we now? The UK conference and meetings market has suffered its share of difficulties over the past year or so. Tony Rogers investigates the causes and suggests ways in which the sector can reinvent itself.

Health and Wellness Tourism: The greying of populations in many parts of the world has created multiple new tourism health, wellness and recovery opportunities. Regular Destination World contributor, Dr Peter Tarlow, offers some advice on how your destination can benefit.

The Romance of the Brand: A staple descriptor in the destination marketing vocabulary, but what is the key to creating a romantic experience for travellers? Anita Mendiratta, strategic advisor to CNN International, offers some suggestions.

Climate Change: We asked Geoffrey Lipman, Director, Greenearth.travel and Advisor to the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization to share his thoughts on last month's Copenhagen Summit and what it means for the travel and tourism industy.

Religious and Pilgrimage Tourism: Religion and faith are major businesses and have long impacted the tourism industry. Regular Destination World contributor, Dr Peter Tarlow, offers some essential tips to help tourism professionals benefit from this growing trend.

Cultural tourism is a fast-growing and lucrative segment of the global travel industry, but how can a destination maximise its potential? In "Place As Product", Steven Thorne advocates taking a place-based approach. A PowerPoint presentation on this subject can also be downloaded. "Cultural Tourism: A Place-Based Approach" (1.9 mb), was delivered by Steven at the annual conference of the Creative City Network of Canada, held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, in September of 2009.

Mass Tourism Defined: Everyone is familiar with the term 'mass tourism'... but what does it really mean? Andreas Hauser, tourism lecturer and TEAM Associate, offers some insight into the phenomenon and presents us with his own definition of the term.

Visitor Management Planning: TEAM Associate, Peter Varlow, offers some advice on developing a visitor management toolkit for your destination and draws on TEAM's recent experience in creating a Visitor Planning Toolkit for the London Development Agency.

Place Branding: Place branding is the new marketing frontier but, according to destination marketing specialist André Vrydagh, it needs a new language to answer today's challenges of global trends, competitive differences and tribal affinities. Read more of André's insightful article in our special feature.

Website Evaluation: Destination websites have become vital tools in our marketing armoury, but are they as effective as they should be? Karin Elgin-Nijhuis offers an overview of ways to evaluate and benchmark your existing site and to avoid expensive mistakes.

Social Media - Friend or Foe? The days of carefully planning and strictly managing your brand are over. Like it or not, the consumer now controls a large part of where your brand is going. Iris Hillier provides some insight into the social media phenomenon.

Destinations and Information Technology: New drivers for change are bringing back the need for innovation and competitive advantage within a destination's e-business strategy. Roger Carter, TEAM's MD, looks at the new challenges and opportunities facing DMOs.

Tourism and Climate Change: There's no escaping it now - we are all caught up in the realities of climate change. Steve Farrant, Director at the International Tourism Partnership, takes a fresh look at where tourism fits within the broader climate change debate.

The Swine Flu Pandemic: The recent arrival of Swine Flu means that, once again, tourism professionals are facing a threat that may greatly impact their industry. Peter Tarlow offers a ten point plan for tackling tourism's latest challenge.

Building Customer Loyalty in a Global Economy: In the current economic situation developing and keeping customer loyalty is essential. Regular Destination World contributor, Peter Tarlow, offers a range of ideas for keeping your customers loyal.

BOOK REVIEW: To Timbuktu for a Haircut Rick Antonson, president and CEO of Tourism Vancouver, sets out on an unforgettable journey through Senegal and Mali. Don’t miss this review by Professor Geoffrey Lipman, UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General.

Post Crisis Marketing While there is little doubt that the best crisis recovery plan is to do everything possible to avoid the crisis, at times they occur despite our best efforts. Peter Tarlow offers some suggestions for developing a strategic plan for minimising their impact.

A Strategic Approach for Tourism: There is no doubt that the global economic situation is now starting to impact on travel and tourism. Dr David Beirman shares some thoughts on how the industry can work together to confront, and overcome, this crisis.

The Economic Threat to the Travel and Tourism Industry: It may be too early to know the full impact of the current economic meltdown but Dr Peter Tarlow examines current trends and offers some suggestions for how to anticipate and deal with the threat.

Dealing with Festival Security: Part One The summer and fall months are often filled with outdoor events which are wonderful opportunities to showcase a community but also carry risks. Dr Peter Tarlow, offers some advice on keeping festivals safe and secure.

Dealing with Festival Security: Part Two Security specialist, Dr Peter Tarlow, highlights the importance of worst-case scenario planning, good communication and timely evaluation, in part two of our special report on festival safety and security.

Tomorrow's Tourist: We can either stumble into the future and hope it turns out alright or we can work out what it might look like then try to shape it. Futurologist, Dr Ian Yeoman, shows us how scenario planning (and crystal ball gazing) can help.

Developing Employee Loyalty: The tourism industry is known for high employee turnover, low pay, and often capricious management. Dr Peter Tarlow offers some ideas for ways to increase your employee's loyalty and provide a better customer service experience.

A Destination's Value Proposition: With the economy in turmoil and the future uncertain, John R Hendrie has some suggestions for how to keep the visitors coming but, he warns, it will be up to all of our partners to deliver on the promise... for this is a community effort.

Natural Tourism: Making more of the natural environment and landscape resources of an area for tourism development is a key component of many tourism development strategies. We look at the way this is being tackled in the Northwest region of England.

How to Engage with the Portable Generation: Their ears are adorned with cell phones, fingers deftly tapping text, iPods poppin' and laptops magically imbedded on knees. These are the people who will represent our destinations for years to come.

Combating High Job Turnover in the Tourism Industry: Tourism is a fast-paced industry with a high turnover of staff. Could mentoring be the solution? Dr Peter Tarlow guides us through the process of setting up an effective tourism mentoring scheme.

Tourism: Dealing with the senior market. With the first wave of baby boomers approaching retirement age, the senior market will continue to be one of the fastest growing areas of tourism. Dr Peter Tarlow offers some ideas for how to prepare for its economic impact.

Pow + Wham = Wow You don’t have to be a Super Action Hero from the classic comics to appreciate these words. John R Hendrie suggests that’s how we need to be with our brands, reflecting energy and passion, as we deliver on the promise.