Tourism recovery plans by UK Destination Management Organisations (DMOs): a new sustainable chapter, or a return to business-as-usual?

This chapter evaluates the extent to which sustainable principles have been included on the destination recovery plans implemented by British Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) in response to Covid-19 and their subsequent quarantines during the period 2020 – 21. The aim of the chapter is to explore if this pause in activities created by the Covid-19 crisis was used by UK DMOs as an opportunity to develop sustainable destination management plans, or alternatively, led them to prioritise financial income as the key driver in their recovery. The chapter also identifies the goals, motivations, performance indicators and strategies applied by those DMOs which developed post-Covid tourism destination recovery plans, with particular focus on those which have decided to include sustainability elements in their plans. The chapter concludes by developing a set of principles that other Destination Management Organisations could apply when intending to develop sustainable management plans for their destinations in response to future major operational disruptions