Destination management systems: creation of value for visitors of tourism destinations

Considering the important role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tourism, a growing number of destination management organisations (DMOs) have been adopting more complex destination web-applications/websites to tourism destinations – destination management systems (DMSs). However, the concept of DMS is far from being consensual. The present study aims to clarify the concept of DMS by identifying the main differences between DMS and other DMO web-applications/websites regarding functionalities targeted at potential visitors of destinations. This study is carried out based on a comparison between DMS-specific and DMS-non-specific sources (papers and book chapters). The results suggest that the major difference between DMS and more traditional DMO websites relies in the transaction dimension. While DMS-non-specific reviewed sources tend to focus more on informational functionalities, DMS-specific studies clearly highlight transaction tools. The study highlights the need to develop DMS including a more varied range of transactional and communication/relationship functionalities.