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Abstract

With the Irish tourism industry maturing, destination marketing organisations (DMOs) must meet tourists’ changing expectations. For rural tourism destinations, the challenge lies in ensuring that they obtain a position of sustainability in the Irish tourism industry (Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, 2011). Due to the highly volatile nature of the Irish rural tourism industry, treating rural tourism like any other product does not comply with the new approach to destination marketing management, which considers the resources available, the environment, the tourist, and the residents themselves (Buhalis, 2000; Pike, 2008). The aim of this study is to carry out a comprehensive review of extant literature to identify the critical success factors in destination marketing management and assess how these success factors compare with the practice of destination marketing management by a small rural destination management organisation (DMO) in Ireland, namely Ballyhoura Fáilte. The paper finds that Ballyhoura Fáilte has been largely successful in identifying and carrying out the CSF activities that are vital to drive strategy and ensure sustainable competitive advantage. This paper also proposes a full set of Critical Success Factors (CSFs), or essential tasks, important for ensuring the long-term success of DMOs.

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