To fund or not to fund: A critical look at funding destination marketing campaigns

Destination development is predicated on transportation infrastructure and air transport is a major contributor to both development and visitor accessibility. Destination management organizations, airports, and regional governments wish to develop a destination's accessibility and it is common that various forms of financial aid are offered to airlines to support service. Global Connected is a Danish example of such a project whose mandate is to influence airline route decisions with offers of funding marketing campaigns. While several new routes are attributed to this campaign an analysis of passenger traffic flows and interviews with industry experts suggests that funding offers are seldom influential and there are threats of uni-directional traffic, cannibalization, and inappropriate metrics with such programs. A sustainable alternative would see destination stakeholders cooperate to develop inbound tourism products to match the needs of an airline's customer groups.