Project
Iterative strategy development in tourism industry with a focus on sustainability
Challenges
A newly established tourism destination team faces multiple challenges:
- Dependency on public funding
- The need to cooperate with various public institutions (universities, nature parks etc.) that have very different interests
- A multi-faceted political landscape where several regional players want to be at the forefront of public recognition – even though the perception of the region precludes the separation into different entities
- The recognized need to develop tourism in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner, precluding damage to nature and social infrastructure of the region‘s inhabitants
- A young, growing team with changing composition
Our Approach
The team is very purpose-driven and sees ESG topics as crucial to their purpose without naming them such.Therefore, we started with:
- A Purpose and Value Proposition Canvas to identify what the team finds purposeful, key customer and stakeholder groups and the value-add the team would bring to each of those groups in line with the team purpose
- Design Thinking elements with empathy interviews, persona creation, prototypes and testing of those prototypes for different offers regarding sustainable, eco-friendly tourism that involves the social landscape of the region
- The creation of a strategy road map and iterative implementation planning including KPIs for three years
- Establishment of a clear team structure with team canvas to keep focus
- Enablement and training for team leadership (digital leadership skills, project management, marketing, personal development and resilience, stakeholder management, presentation and persuasivness in writing, communication skills)
- Leadership coaching for team development
Results
- Growth from a team that manages part of a region to a team that manages the entire region plus a neighbouring one in 1,5 years
- Solid positioning of ESG tourism offer with various stakeholder groups (public and private sector)
- Measurable increase in touristic activity of the predefined customer groups even during COVID
Lessons learned
- Go for bold—even if it sounds idealistic. When the team started thinking about its purpose and how they wanted it to come to life, ESG and sustainability were still nice-to-have topics. Now, they have moved to the forefront of the agenda!
- Structure helps every team. Working through the central elements of team governance and collaboration structure and making them stick, is still a good recipe for success
- Good leadership also means to be decisive when things do not work in a team. Making tough personnel decisions ultimately aids team success
Back
Other Projects:
You need help? Contact us!
OFFICE BERLIN
T +49 3089 000 232
E welcome@semler-company.com
OFFICE FRANKFURT
T +49 3089 000 232
E welcome@semler-company.com