Isn’t it fascinating the way a stretch of water separating two countries that speak the same language can serve to mutate the meaning of words?

Take destination management for instance. Here in the UK, destination management signifies tourism strategy, co-ordinating how destinations are planned, developed and marketed.

Over in the USA the phrase conjures up something different. There, if you say destination management your average tourism industry listener will immediately think of a tourism marketing company. These companies take over the entire marketing effort of a city, for example, producing everything from radio adverts to web sites, and all the printed material including guidebooks and accommodation guides.

To further muddy the waters, as it were, the web sites operating by destination management companies on behalf of their clients run on a Destination Management System (DMS). In layperson’s terms, this is a cross between an internet shop and a point-and-shoot web publishing system. To borrow from the animated film, Chicken Run, the end result is tourists in, bookings out.