Purpose

Mind your Ps and Qs (6)

Google ‘the purpose of tourism’ and you will uncover a myriad of articles dealing with the economic importance of tourism, the benefits it provides and can be derived, or the motivations or reasons why people might want to travel to communities or destinations in the first place.  Certainly there is an economic rationale for purpose, but communities-as-destinations must make it social, shared and spiritual if it is to be meaningful and provide guidance.  In essence, to create a mission-based economy, as in Barbados.

While it may not be the way of the world, David Packer (The HP Way) once said:

“I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being. As we investigate this, we inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company so they are able to accomplish something collectively which they could not accomplish separately. They are able to do something worthwhile— they make a contribution to society (a phrase which sounds trite but is fundamental).”

As a community’s explanation for desiring to be a destination, purpose should be a thought-provoking articulation and clarification as to the ‘why’ for tourism.  Why it shouldn’t be considered a luxury, but a democratic right for essential respites.  How it should be utilized to protect and enhance the quality-of-life of all citizens, a community’s prosperity through shared prosperity, and its cultural and nature-based distinctiveness (as in the Ahousaht First Nation) while making sure they aren’t over-taxed or destroyed. In other words, how it can drive further benefits by becoming a transformative social enterprise…building a stronger social fabric through tourism.

Purpose, however, is not a dictate.  Nor is it something that can be imposed.  Rather, it’s a rationale to be discovered and detected, requiring an in-depth exploration as to what communities of people identify as being truly unique and distinctive about their community, and the motivation for wanting their community to be or become a compelling and admirable destination.  A meaning that people can embrace for engaging and being involved in tourism, and the roles tourism can play in honoring, protecting, improving, or transforming the community over the long-term.

As an arduous journey, clarifying purpose can be intense because it needs to reflect our humanity and hospitableness toward each other, not just visitors.  On the other hand, such a requirement may not reveal ‘noble purpose’ (that serves a community as well organizations) unless it can be demonstrated that purpose is normative of integrity and inspired by just and ethical moral principles that are deeply liberating, exemplary of hospitable behaviors, and well-integrated within and throughout communities…what people and visitor-serving organizations stand for.

In this light, creating purpose–driven destinations requires that purpose…

·       Be perceived as being truly authentic.

·       Speaks to the values that govern the behavior of all – managers, leaders, and hosts.

·       Is constantly being articulated and demonstrated through behaviors and actions.

·       Strengthens connections and a sense of belonging to a community.

·       Stimulates and guides individual and group learning.

·       Connects people and all stakeholders to a sense of purpose.

·       Encourages enterprise-level reinvention and transformation that creates value.

·       Enables positive vibrations and catalytic action.

·       Clarifies our responsibilities to visitors, citizens, organizations, communities, and the planet.

If we are to be serious about purpose, purpose has to be a deep purpose that shifts from ‘why’ to ‘how’; a ‘how’ that will signify dignity, fair play, and profound meaning. 

A profound meaning that re-imagines purpose as a mentor of people; one that anticipates, creates, and energizes people to move forward to tomorrow; to and beyond the boundaries of what we know or don’t know; one that provides insights into the obligations, values and gratitude associated with hospitality - how best to welcome and serve those who choose to visit; one that embeds systemic ambition within communities-as-destinations and the organizations therein, and creates the essential conditions that improve the odds of success however defined.

As the means to achieving win-win outcomes, all communities-as-destinations hope to unlock value and potential within their communities and individual organizations.  For it to happen, purpose must permeate and be revealed through strategic representation.  If you’re looking for an example, I would point to Vienna’s tourism strategy, but posit, in all seriousness, that all strategies remain pointless unless implementation is carefully demonstrated through purposeful leadership  and partnerships that deliver the most desirable of results and outcomes. These days revealed through the attention that has to be given to demonstrating climate leadership,  improving organizational performance through engaged and empowered employees and hosting communities, even more forthright urban and community renewal.

Leadership that fully understands and communicates the whys and ways we travel, the reasons why people visit our communities, and the need to deliver on customer/community expectations in order to better serve their needs and create memorable experiences and value for them.  Thereby ensuring that our communities-as-destinations maintain their appeal and charm, their desirability and integrity…ensuring that tourism never outlives its purpose.