Interview with a DMO expert: Gianluca Laterza
Which type of clients does your business unit mainly work with and what services do you offer them?
We are a ‘destination agency’ and we support Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs). These clients are predominantly regional and city tourist boards or private consortiums. These entities, whether public or private, can represent entire regions, smaller geographic areas, cities, or a collection of hotels and attractions. Our work is consultancy and service based and the work that we do for each client can be very different, depending on whether they are starting out, or are already established and well known. The work usually involves analysis, strategy, and team management but can also involve product development, content creation, and marketing and financial services
Covid-19 must have slowed things down at the beginning of the year, when and where do you see consumer demand coming back to the market?
Things are still very difficult right now and although countries like Italy had a wonderful summer season in the regions, thanks largely to freedom of movement in the EU, tourism in city centres suffered very badly. Because of the lack of international visitors, cities like Florence, Rome, Venice, and Milan, lacked significant footfall and bed nights all summer long, and as a result, we are now witnessing that hundreds of hotels have closed down forever, or are now for sale (which is just as damaging). The current state of uncertainty around the future is destroying all of the best efforts of the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry. For me, consumer demand for travel will only come back when the political decisions are made that reinstate freedom of movement across borders, and that eliminate the societal fear that the virus presents citizens huge danger should they travel to a new place, far away from home
Now that travel restrictions are gradually being lifted, do you sense that your clients are able to begin to resurrect their businesses and resume advertising in traditional ways?
What I can already sense among both clients and potential customers is a strong awareness that DMOs will need to do something out of the ordinary in order to attract people back to their destinations. This is reflected in a few projects that we are currently running with cities located in the north and centre of Italy – ranging from communication campaigns to product development. One recurring theme is that clients are re-evaluating their core identity, and thinking about how this core identity can be used to promote their unique selling proposition and to distinguish themselves from competing destinations. I can also clearly see that despite the fact that my clients are ready to resurrect their businesses, they face two common obstacles. Firstly, the uncertainty and fear surrounding the future, and secondly their own financial predicament and their ongoing viability as a business. After all, their revenue models are based on people travelling
Do you have anything new to offer clients that are looking to make up some of the shortfall in bookings during the Covid-19 lockdown and what do clients need from you to feel like the partnership is successful?
Although we cannot make the fear surrounding Covid-19, we can help clients to believe that there is now a big opportunity for them. Rather than being unnecessarily optimistic, I try to be realistic, which means recognizing the difficulties of the situation that we all find ourselves in. One positive is that many DMOs have not previously been able to stop and to reflect upon how to better present and to express themselves in the market. In this piece I had previously referred to a DMO’s core identity, which is a vital marketing tool in tourism. It is the identity of a place is what really attracts people to visit it and that makes it a destination. One mistake that we continually see is DMOs trying to copy the efforts of the successful competitors. This only results in destinations spending money on meaningless campaigns, devoid of authenticity, and relinquishing their true competitive advantage. Not an ideal starting point when the DMOs is looking to make up for some of the shortfall in business this year. We consider a partnership successful if we can arrive at the point where the client is aware of their core identity and then willing to market and promote it via various products we offer. In turn, the client feels as though the partnership is successful when we can demonstrate that we understand the heart of their identity and are able to make this clear in all of the work that we do for them
Do you see clients favouring products with certain business models and why do you think that this is?
Right now, anything that is performance based, or has some element of shared risk or costing between us and the client is preferable. Budgets are very tight and we are stuck in a vicious circle where DMOs need travellers to be travelling to justify spending and travellers need DMOs to be spending to encourage them to travel
Do you have ideas as to how travellers’ booking habits might change after Covid-19?
I personally do not believe that travellers’ booking habits will change because of Covid-19. Travellers’ booking habits have constantly evolved over the last few years because of technology changes, and this is to be expected because technology changes are able to modify a behaviour forever. So, new technology, not Covid-19, will be the driving force behind changing travellers’ booking habits
How do you think your clients will have to adjust their online marketing strategy to meet these changes?
Successful technology providers build end to end solutions so the DMOs should logically be able to plug into the supply or distribution side of any new platforms. Broadly speaking, DMOs are going to have to spend even more time and effort correctly segmenting their target audiences, both offline and online. The same marketing campaigns can have very different results depending on how well the audiences are segmented and then targeted. To be able to segment audiences, you need lots of data, including new criteria like traveller’s contrasting attitudes towards Covid-19, their fear of contracting the virus, the weighting they put on sanitation and safety, that type of thing. It is clear that DMOs are going to have to find clever ways of weaving their Covid-19 story into their marketing narrative
Do you see that travellers are influenced by anything other than the lowest price when they book a travel product?
Travellers are influenced by the ratio between value of the product versus the price of the product. This means that if they can find a certain value at a lower price, they will take it. But if they want a certain value for which they cannot find a lower price, they will simply go with the price on offer. So we see that the relevant factor is not so much the price, but more so the perceived value delivered. This of course is all subjective and the sweet spot is clearly where the majority of travellers see value in the product but the supply is limited. In this case, travellers are heavily influenced by evidence of friendly and excellent service, fast and efficient communications, and some degree of flexibility or personal touch
How important is it for your DMO clients to promote their green credentials and what type of green messages do you see them trying to get out to visitors?
Green credentials have always been a very relevant marketing information and being a sustainable destination is more attractive today than ever before. Interestingly, we are now seeing the next big thing: the ‘green experience’. Destinations want to convey to potential visitors that they can offer them a transformational experience, something completely contradictory to the noise and stress of modern daily life. It’s not just about being a green destination, it’s about delivering an end to end green experience
If it is fair to say that a company’s sustainability programme is of key relevance to millennial consumers, do you see things that millennial workers require in the workplace to be content?
As I have just said, nowadays people want to feel meaningfully influenced and impacted by their experiences. The relative success or value of an experience is judged by whether it made a lasting impression on the way that the person now thinks about things or the way in which they now behave. Aside from the obvious – a salary and benefits that allow them to lead a comfortable life – I believe that millennial workers also want a workplace that allows them to transform their lives on a weekly and monthly basis. An environment that helps them to become better and more interesting people as well as more capable professionals. We see all types of traditionally extracurricular activities coming into the workplace, whether it be boxing classes, yoga, or cooking classes and we also see millennial workers enjoying communal work spaces, bringing pets into the office, and engaging with colleagues in a more familiar and less formal way
What type of personalities and skill sets have successful careers at DMOs?
Working for a DMO is very demanding as it requires a very large skill set. This is due not only to the complexity of the activities that managing a destination includes, but also due to the limited number of people DMOs have at their disposal, so that each member of the DMO team must engage in very different activities and be ready to address very different problems. To give you an idea some of the skills and competencies most suited for the DMO career field are: management, project management, team building, tourism planning, statistics and market research, financial analysis, marketing, brand management, sales, advertising, public relations, digital marketing, negotiation, experience design, human resource management, fundraising, crisis management, etc.. Usually, larger and more structured DMOs are able to create teams of people working in specific roles, whereas in smaller DMOs the destination manager must have aptitude in that entire skillset
What type of personalities and skill sets have successful careers at DMOs?
Working for a DMO is very demanding as it requires a very large skill set. This is due not only to the complexity of the activities that managing a destination includes, but also due to the limited number of people DMOs have at their disposal, so that each member of the DMO team must engage in very different activities and be ready to address very different problems. To give you an idea some of the skills and competencies most suited for the DMO career field are: management, project management, team building, tourism planning, statistics and market research, financial analysis, marketing, brand management, sales, advertising, public relations, digital marketing, negotiation, experience design, human resource management, fundraising, crisis management, etc.. Usually, larger and more structured DMOs are able to create teams of people working in specific roles, whereas in smaller DMOs the destination manager must have aptitude in that entire skillset
At a DMO, do you think it is possible to start from the bottom and to work your way to the top?
DMOs are very different entities. They can differ based on dimension (large – small), structure (from 1 person to several teams), composition (private, public, private-public) and duration (linked to a specific project or stable). Some DMOs do offer the possibility to work the way to the top, some others clearly do not
What advice would you give to candidates starting their careers at a DMO?
I think the primary advice would be to deliver public relations and negotiation skills. These are very helpful as the starting point of each tourism project is to build consent and gain the trust of all of the main stakeholders, then to convince them to cooperate, which is quite a hard task!
Can you see a time in the near future where the travel, hospitality and leisure industry are on the rise and that companies are hiring again?
As I said, this relies purely on political decisions, so any accurate forecast with respect to timelines is very difficult. Based on the current situation and given the true danger to civilians posed by the Covid-19 disease, I do not see any reason why the travel, hospitality and leisure industry should not be back to normal very soon. But, for me, without a bold political act this will not happen
How did you book your last holiday and where did you go?
My most recent holiday was in August this year. As usual, I spent it in Italy on the sea – the Tuscan coast to be precise. I booked it directly (over the phone) as it was with some friends, and we decided to stay at a property that we already knew
Get to know the DMO expert better: Gianluca Laterza
I met Gianluca when we were both working at Tripadvisor in London. He was selling into the Italian market and subsequently moved to Bergamo to service Tripadvisor’s hotel product offering in Italy, Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean. Gianluca has huge stage presence and is a big hit on the regional speaking circuit for travel, hospitality and leisure.To say that Gianluca knows how to entertain a crowd is an understatement. If he weren’t already busy enough, Gianluca is also a guest lecturer at the University of Venice and the co-founder and CEO of Destinazione Turismo.
Do you remember your first job in the travel industry?
Of course. I remember it very well as it was at Tripadvisor in 2011. I had previously been practicing law in southern Italy and then working in recruitment in Rome
Do you collect airpoints or participate in any other travel loyalty programs?
I collect airpoints with a few airlines including Lufthansa and Alitalia. Also trainpoints with Trenitalia
Economy or business class?
Economy by default but the points can be used for upgrades when there are enough. I’ve had a few transatlantic trips for work where we’ve been upgraded to business class much to everyone’s delight
Hotel or self-catering?
100% hotels. I am absolutely crazy for hotels!
Package holiday or independent traveller?
Independent! I think that it’s the Italian way…
A memorable meal from your travels?
A turkish breakfast, a lunch in Paris, a pastel de nata in Lisbon
An experience or attraction that you’d highly recommend?
A Turkish tea on the Bosphorus. You sit there on the edge of Europe, looking across the water to Asia Minor and the world doesn’t feel so far apart, and it’s all quite amazing really
Do you travel more than other members of your family?
Of course. I am a frequent business traveller and have had chapters of my career when I’ve truly been a ‘road warrior’
Your best recent holiday?
That’s easy – in Italy, at Trentino Alto Adige. We were there (on the snow) in December 2019
And the worst?
I do not remember any in particular – do people ever admit to bad holidays?
Do you think about your carbon footprint when you are travelling?
I do not as much as I should but I do take the Trenitalia around Italy when I can
Did you have to cancel any trips this year due to COVID-19?
Yes, I had to cancel two trips but fortunately they were with work rather than holiday: Berlin (for ITB) and London (for a team meeting at the office)
Where can you recommend domestically for those preferring staycations?
Come to visit Umbria (the region in Italy where I live). It’s green with forests, dotted with medieval hill towns and famous for its wines and foraged truffles. What’s not to like?
Have you ever visited anywhere that you think you would be a place to retire to?
Yes plenty – I live in Italy!
Have you ever bumped into anyone famous on holiday?
Luckily not – that’s not my idea of fun
What technical innovation would make travel easier?
We are surrounded by travel technology. I think the best tech innovation in travel would be to define the role of technology and limit it to the back office (behind the visibility line). It would be refreshing to see crowds of tourists in Italy appreciating the sights without having to record every moment on their phones
When you are about to travel what can you not leave the house without?
Books
What is your guilty travel indulgence?
It is absolute bliss to relax alone in a luxury hotel room
What is the short and mid-term outlook for the travel industry?
This is not so much an outlook but more over a hope: a strong recovery from February 2021 and then followed by a great summer full of pent up demand!
Any advice for people just starting out in their professional travel careers?
If you are in a rush, please consider other industries. Or be patient