Finding the best answers for complicated problems takes a team. It all starts by putting communities and people first. Then, the focus shifts to managing concerns and creating opportunities, tapping into the right resources at the right time.
Better Destinations is built on collaboration. With connections to a full range of expert resources, Better Destinations is prepared to team with others to create smart solutions for a range of tourism challenges. Better Destinations fosters active partnerships with these organizations and many others:
MMGY NextFactor is an industry-leading consulting firm specializing in travel and tourism. Its team of experts has delivered insights and strategies to more than 250 destinations across the globe. It empowers clients and the travel industry at large to deliver sustainable growth to visitor economies and build stronger communities.
The firm was founded by Paul Ouimet in 2015, following the launch of its ground-breaking DestinationNEXT initiative. The collective team saw the opportunity to blaze a new trail for visitor economies and help destinations prepare for the next era of travel.
Nichols Tourism Group, Inc. is headed by Mitch Nichols, who as President leads the firm’s strategic planning and product development activities. Mitch’s experience ranges from broad strategy planning efforts in beach destinations like Sarasota, Florida, to unique mountain destinations such as Oregon’s Mt. Hood region and Asheville, North Carolina. Many assignments are statewide in scope, including work for Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Delaware, Kansas, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington. Mitch’s strategy work includes unique heritage destinations like Montana’s historic gold mining towns of Virginia City and Nevada City, as well as the powerful living history experiences in Virginia’s Historic Triangle regions, including Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg.
In 30 years of conducting research for tourism destinations, SMARInsights has worked with more than 35 state tourism organizations, more than 85 local convention and visitors bureaus, and 20 attractions. Its mission is to provide each client with personalized consultation and research design based on fully integrated marketing research services.
Civitas specializes in igniting local economies, creating jobs and establishing stable funding for destination activities and funding sustainability programs throughout the United States. With more than 20 years of experience, Civitas provides expertise in all aspects of forming, modifying and renewing improvement districts.
Founded in 2003, the Travel Foundation (TTF) is a non-governmental organization (NGO), working globally to understand and improve the impacts of tourism on destination communities, environment and resources.The organization’s deep experience and understanding of how tourism works – in companies, in communities, and in policy – allows it to quickly identify key issues and their root causes and offer practical solutions towards solving them.
The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) is an effective nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, dedicated to increasing the positive global impact of responsible tourism. CREST provides evidence-based research and analysis to governments, policymakers, tourism businesses, nonprofit organizations, and international agencies to solve the most pressing problems confronting tourism, the world’s largest service industry.
SMG Consulting, based in South Lake Tahoe, CA, is a boutique marketing advisory firm with experience in more than 60 tourism destinations. It specializes in organizational and destination strategy design, economic analysis, marketing research, and analysis for tourism and recreation industries. SMG prides itself on providing clients with insights and solutions for their organizational and competitive challenges. It views each client through a strategy lens to understand more significant issues necessary for their success.