ABSTRACT
This chapter adopts a destination management perspective and reviews all of the roles involved in urban destination management. Destination management is a systematic and coordinated effort to manage all aspects of tourism in a city. The roles and responsibilities of city destination management organisations (CDMOs) are expanding and the reasons for this trend are identified. These roles are leadership, coordination and governance, planning and research, community and stakeholder relationships and involvement, product development, marketing and promotion, partnership and team building, and visitor management. It is suggested that the leadership and coordination of diverse stakeholders in city destinations is a core role. The heightened importance of crisis management in the COVID-19 era is explained, resulting in the recommended “seven-plus-one” roles model for CDMOs. A varied set of management approaches and skills is required to fulfil these roles. Examples of best practice in city destination management from across the world are cited.
