Destinations International, the world’s largest resource for official destination organizations and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) is continuing to forge partnerships and create offerings designed to benefit global destination organizations and the events they serve. 

On Feb. 15, the organization announced that it had formed an official partnership with Tourism Cares, a non-profit organization dedicated to the long-term survival of the travel and tourism industry that inspires travel leaders to make travel a force for good.

Designed to unite the industry and serve as a catalyst for positive social, environmental and economic impact for the people and places of travel, the organization has been committed to mobilizing the industry to create meaningful change through education and action since its inception, according to Tourism Cares officials. 

“Tourism Cares was the 2022 recipient of Destinations International’s Spirit of Hospitality Award, and that great honor propelled us to deepen our partnership with Destinations International to strategically engage on more thoughtful destination stewardship and shared values,” explained Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares. 

He continued, “Our organizations mirror each other in that we look to inform, connect, inspire and educate our members. We see no better time than the present to collaborate and partner on initiatives that will build sustainability and bring tools and learnings to destination communities.” 

According to Destinations International officials, the Tourism Cares partnership will establish cross-promoted special programs that benefit destination organizations globally, including: 

• The collaboration of inclusions to the Meaningful Travel Map to drive awareness of and highlight social and environmental impact experiences and opportunities.

• A jointly produced volunteerism project in conjunction with a Destinations International event in 2023-2024.

• The development of a disaster relief program focusing on long-term recovery, supported by Destinations International and destination organization stakeholders.

“We are at a significant time in the travel industry where we need to authentically reconnect with people and respect the places we choose to visit,” said Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International. “Greg and the team at Tourism Cares have been making great strides to advance our industry, and we are thrilled to partner with them on their many impactful initiatives for our industry and the communities our members represent.”

Prior to the partnership unveiling, Destinations International announced that its premier economic tool, the Event Impact Calculator (EIC), had already surpassed more than 300 subscribers following its launch in Mexico. 

Developed in partnership with Tourism Economics, the EIC is the industry standard for measuring the economic value of an event by calculating its return on investment in terms of local taxes, business activity and household income.  

EIC subscribers span a dozen countries with more than 300 destination organization clients who use the tool to measure the economic value generated in their communities through business events, sports, festivals and local events, according to Destinations International officials.

“In 2022, more than 137,000 events were analyzed, with 80% business events and the remaining encompassing sports, festivals and consumer shows,” Welsh said. “Hotel room nights are just one piece of the pie, and the EIC tool allows our destination members around the world to convey the total value of an event to community stakeholders in a very understandable way.”

With the conclusion of its 10-year anniversary and surpassing its 300^th client, EIC is the global standard for measuring net new money coming to a community because of meetings and events, he added. 

“The EIC has served destinations for more than a decade now, and it’s tremendously encouraging to see how the platform has evolved into an international standard for measuring the economic value of events widely around the world,” said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics. 

The tool is used across Destinations International’s destination members as well as through shared partnerships with the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) and SportsETA. 

“The Destinations International Foundation serves as the industry’s incubator and first invested in this tool for development in 2011,” said Vail Ross, senior vice president of global business development and marketing at STR and chair of the Destinations International Foundation. “We are proud to see this critical tool hit such a big milestone with over 300 subscribers.”

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