I remember all too well the frustration of one of my daughters, upon entering the workforce, with the expectation of some employers that their employees would actually have experience.
"How the hell do I get experience if they won't hire me," she said, the exasperation all too clear. And, as always, she was spot on.
I was reminded of that conversation last week when a newly minted Destination Marketing Organization director (with no previous DMO experience) said, somewhat breathlessly in a news article, that she hoped to target motor coach groups that might stay the week.
That would be a target market of exactly...errr, zero. Motorcoach groups don't ever spend a week in one place, especially in a town that they've never heard of.
Now, to be fair...we all have to start somewhere. And, when I got my first job in DMOland, I had no experience whatsoever in the tourism and hospitality field (I had been a DJ, for crying' out loud). But that was in the 1980s, when Destination Marketing wasn't understood as one of the most vital aspects of economic development. Back then, we came from all kinds of backgrounds and learned the trade.
Today...the stakes are too high. Rookies are rarely successful because expectations are excruciating.
So, where to get the experience? Not a baptism of fire. If you want to be a successful DMO CEO, learn the trade at another DMO first. Then use your knowledge gained to make your mark somewhere else.
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