Keynote: Tourist Destinations – What will be Important in the Future? 

At this year’s annual conference of the German Travel Association (DRV) in Morocco, Dr. Markus Heller, Managing Partner of Dr. Fried & Partner, opened the first event block of the annual conference with his k eynote speech “Developing new tourist regions – How does the interaction between politics, service providers, tour operators and sales work?”. 
In his keynote speech “Tourist destinations – What will be important in the future?”, he will show ways of analytical, sustainable and collaborative destination development, which is the basis for successfully addressing Central European source markets. 

Positioning Morocco on the German tour operator market

A look at the booking data from Travel Data + Analytics GmbH (TDA) shows that key destinations for German tour operators have developed quite differently in some cases following the pandemic. While Turkey and Greece are already above pre-crisis levels, Spain and most North African countries are still struggling to match the volumes of 2018/ 19. 
The host country of the conference, Morocco, is also affected by this weakness. On the one hand, this has to do with the country’s relatively late opening for tourists, but also with a supply and capacity policy that is not yet optimally geared towards the German market. 
Morocco’s great potential is obvious: with a diverse geographical offering of very attractive vacation regions on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts as well as the Atlas Mountains and distinctive desert landscapes, the destination is suitable for the German source market as both a summer and a sunny winter destination. In addition, the stable political situation and liberalized air traffic form a basis on which solid tour operator business can be built.

Analytical, collaborative and sustainable destination development is crucial

Analytical expertise is the basis for strategic and operational decisions. Establishing a valid database for forecasts and investments is the basis for correctly evaluating and addressing market segments and source markets. With the knowledge of market-specific product requirements and a coordinated alignment of service offerings, DMCs and tour operators can be better supported in their volume planning. 
This aspect points to the second dimension of destination development: good collaboration between the stakeholders involved in the process. From the development of a national tourism strategy to the establishment of joint structures and overarching organizations to the mapping of the needs of source markets as well as destinations and their resident populations, collaboration can achieve a consensus that is fundamental to the marketing success of a destination. 
In future, the long-term success of a destination will be determined more than ever by its efforts to achieve sustainability. Dr. Fried & Partner has developed the Tourism Destination Index (TDI), which was measured for the first time in 2021, to improve visibility. Based on the three dimensions of sustainability – environmental, social and economic – it analyses and evaluates the situation in the 15 most important vacation destinations for German tour operators. All destinations have potential for improvement, and the future will show how intensively the destinations address the issue. 

Morocco is on the right track

Best practice examples from COMEO GmbH in Munich show how successful destination development can be achieved with the right positioning and marketing cooperation in the German-speaking market, using Lapland (#getlappi) and La Réunion as examples. 
But Morocco is also on the right track: