So... What's a DMO?

DMO = Destination Marketing Organization

DMOs are non-profit, in-government, or public/private partnership organizations that are funded to create, develop, support and grow the travel and tourism industry in their respective destinations.

There are over 15,000 DMOs representing places to visit from the biggest countries to the smallest villages all across the world.

DMOs get their funding in whole or in part from government entities. This can be directly through government fiscal budgets, through special grants, or even as a percentage of a hotel tax (or other revenue raised from visitors).

DMO budgets are often unstable from year to year, and the amount of funding is not necessarily connected to the size or popularity of the destination. Funding frequently comes with government laws that restrict how and where the funding can be spent.

All DMO's do at least one of these three things:

Marketing - encouraging people to come visit and tour operators to sell packages to visitors.

Product development - working with local people and businesses to find more ways to market tourism (like a "Donut Trail" or a new agri-tourism niche).

Destination development - making the infrastructure better for tourism and visitors (like more flights, more hotel rooms, or upgrading their visitor information center.