A qualitative inquiry of DMO services to hotels: How valuable are they perceived?

While it is clear that destination marketing organizations (DMOs) bring business to hotels by promoting the destination, the focus of this study is to investigate what DMO services are valued more (or less) by DMOs and hotels. A qualitative approach was adopted in this inquiry, where the primary data were collected through two-phase semi-structured interviews with 14 industry practitioners working in DMOs or hotels. The first phase began with in-depth interviews with DMO representatives about the DMO services provided to hotels, using the interview protocol developed from a review of literature. An improved protocol was advanced with the DMOs' inputs and then used in the second phase of the investigation to assess hotels' evaluations on the DMO services received, as well as the areas that may need improvement. The data were analyzed with the content analysis method under seven services areas: membership management, training and education, data and research, lead generation, publication, networking opportunities, and cost sharing. In the end, the qualitative data collected in the two-phase interviews were further triangulated, leading to a development of a two-dimensional classification matrix of DMO services perceived by DMOs and hotels. The results reveal some discrepancies in regards to how DMOs and hotels value the DMO services, such as in lead generations as well as training and educational programs. Theoretical implications and specific practical recommendations for each of the seven service areas are provided to improve DMO services for hotels.