Abstract/Details

Destination management organizations: A stakeholder perspective

Sheehan, Lorn Raymond.   University of Calgary (Canada) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2007. NR25719.

Abstract (summary)

This thesis applies a stakeholder theory analysis to tourism destination management organizations (DMOs). It consists of two empirical studies that form the basis for three separate essays. The first study is quantitative in nature and based on a structured mail survey of ninety one (91) chief executive officers of North American DMOs. This study is the basis for two essays. In the first essay, a DMO stakeholder map is created revealing a great diversity of stakeholders of varying importance, with hotels and city government clearly emerging as most salient. Also, stakeholders are specifically analyzed within the Savage, Nix, Whitehead and Blair (1991) typology according to their potential to threaten and their potential to cooperate with the DMO. This typology prescribes a management strategy specific to each stakeholder type. The prescribed strategies are then compared to the actual strategies the respondent CEOs reported using. In the second essay, external stakeholders are analyzed within the context of a modified version of the Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997) typology. The empirical results are generally supportive of the modified Mitchell et al typology.

The second study is qualitative employing a case-based method and is the subject of the third essay. The first empirical study revealed that at the heart of urban tourism promotion lies a triad of powerful players—the city, the hotels, and the DMO. This third essay explores the relationships between the DMO, charged with crafting and executing destination promotion, and its two most powerful stakeholders—the city (or urban government) and hotels (or accommodation sector). In this regard, empirical insights are derived from an examination of three major North American city destinations. In each setting, in-depth key informant interviews were conducted with leaders of each member of the triad (the city, the hotels, and the DMO). The triad is found to be asymmetrical with each member providing a unique and complementary resource. The extent to which members of the triad can effectively relate to one another and combine their complementary resources is shown to be an important determinant of success in destination promotion.

Indexing (details)


Subject
Tourism;
Essays;
Polls & surveys;
Local government;
Studies;
Strategic management;
Sales promotions;
Management;
Travel agencies;
Stakeholders;
Chief executive officers;
Hotels & motels;
Research;
Social exchange theory;
Dictionaries;
Collaboration;
Legitimacy;
Organization theory;
Data analysis;
Marketing;
Perceptions;
Hypotheses;
Cooperation;
Stockholders;
Copyright;
Nonprofit organizations
Classification
0454: Management
72111: Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels
56151: Travel Agencies
Identifier / keyword
Social sciences; Destination management organizations; Resource dependence; Stakeholder
Title
Destination management organizations: A stakeholder perspective
Author
Sheehan, Lorn Raymond
Number of pages
177
Degree date
2007
School code
0026
Source
DAI-A 68/04, Dissertation Abstracts International
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
ISBN
978-0-494-25719-7
University/institution
University of Calgary (Canada)
University location
Canada -- Alberta, CA
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
NR25719
ProQuest document ID
304899195
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/docview/304899195