What Does Strategy Mean?

When did the word "strategy" lose its meaning in the tourism industry?

What Does Strategy Mean?

In the tourism industry, the word strategy has been stretched, diluted, and repackaged so many times that it has almost lost its meaning.

We hear it everywhere.

Brand strategy.

 PR strategy.

Social media strategy.

Content strategy.

At some point, everything became “strategy.”

And when everything is strategy, nothing is.

What has really happened is this: the industry has blurred the line between strategy and tactics. We’ve taken executional activities and elevated them with more important-sounding language. But calling something a strategy does not make it so. It simply masks its absence.

Strategy Is Not What You Do

Let’s start with a simple truth that often gets lost in the noise: strategy is not what you do. It is the thinking that underpins what you choose to do, and, just as importantly, what you choose not to do.

In the tourism industry, it’s easy to confuse motion with meaning. A new social media campaign gets labeled a strategy. A PR push becomes a strategy. A brand refresh is positioned as a strategy. But these are not strategies. They are actions, expressions at best, and in many cases, simply activity.

True strategy operates at a different level. It sits above execution and forces a deeper level of clarity. It asks the kinds of questions that are not always easy to answer and often uncomfortable to confront. Where will an organization compete, and where will it not? What does your organization offer that is genuinely distinct, not just slightly different? Who are we really trying to reach, and who are we willing to leave behind? What needs to be removed or stopped in order to bring focus to what matters most? And ultimately, what is the single outcome the organization is trying to achieve?

Without clear answers to these questions, organizations tend to drift. They move, they act, they produce, but without a unifying logic guiding those actions. And when that happens, what looks like strategy from the outside is often just momentum without direction.

In that sense, the absence of strategy isn’t inactivity; it’s activity without purpose.

The Industry’s Drift Toward Sameness

The misuse of strategy has not been without consequence. Over time, it has quietly reshaped the tourism landscape into something far more uniform than most would care to admit. Across destinations, there is an increasing sense of sameness. Organizations find themselves targeting the same audiences, promoting similar types of experiences, using nearly identical language, and investing in the same channels. On the surface, it may appear to align with best practices. In reality, it is something else entirely.

This pattern emerges when there is no clear strategic foundation guiding decisions. In the absence of true direction, organizations gravitate toward what feels safe, what has worked before, what others are doing, and what is widely accepted within the industry. The result is imitation rather than definition. Instead of carving out a distinct position, destinations begin to mirror one another, making only marginal adjustments and calling it differentiation.

This is a form of competitive equilibrium, a state in which everyone operates within the same boundaries, makes similar choices, and competes on increasingly narrow margins. It creates the illusion of strategy, but truthfully, it reflects its absence. What is taking place is not a strategic distinction, but convergence.

Strategy Is About Choice and Tradeoffs

At its core, strategy is about making choices, clear, deliberate choices made within the reality of constraint. And real choices, by their very nature, require tradeoffs. No organization can be everything to everyone. It cannot pursue every opportunity or say yes to every idea. Yet, in practice, many attempt to do exactly that. Over time, they layer initiative upon initiative, adding new campaigns, new programs, new priorities without removing anything that came before. What begins as ambition gradually turns into complexity. Focus erodes, resources are stretched, and confusion takes hold internally.

True strategy moves in the opposite direction. It is not just about what is added, but what is intentionally removed. It requires a willingness to step back and ask harder questions: What no longer serves our direction? What is pulling us away from our core? What are we willing to walk away from in order to move forward with clarity?

These are not easy questions for a board and CEO to answer. They challenge assumptions, disrupt momentum, and often require letting go of what feels familiar or comfortable. But without confronting them, clarity remains out of reach. And without clarity, strategy cannot exist.

Strategy Precedes Execution

Another critical distinction often gets overlooked: strategy comes before execution, not after it or alongside it. Yet many organizations begin in the opposite place. The conversation starts with statements like, “We need a new campaign,” or “We need to increase visitation,” or “We need to improve our brand.” These may feel like strategic imperatives, but they are not. They are outputs, actions in search of a rationale, rather than the result of one.

True strategy establishes the foundation that makes those actions meaningful. It defines the role tourism is intended to play within the community. It clarifies the type of visitor being sought, not simply more visitors, but the right ones. It shapes the kinds of experiences that should be elevated because they reinforce the destination’s identity. And it determines the position the destination seeks to occupy within an increasingly competitive landscape.

Only after this level of clarity is achieved should execution begin. Without it, organizations risk falling into a pattern of activity without alignment, doing things, launching initiatives, and measuring outputs, all in the hope that they will collectively amount to something significant. But without a clear strategic anchor, they rarely do.

Strategy Is a Point of View

At its best, strategy is not a document that sits on a shelf or a plan that gets revisited once a year. It is a point of view, a clear, shared understanding that lives within an organization and guides how it sees itself and the choices it makes.

It defines who we are at our core, what we stand for, and how we intend to compete meaningfully. It clarifies why your organization matters, not just in the marketplace, but to the people and communities you serve. This clarity becomes more than words; it becomes a lens through which decisions are evaluated and made.

When a true strategy exists, decision-making shifts. It doesn’t necessarily become simpler; complexity still exists, but it becomes more aligned. There is a common reference point, a shared logic that helps people move in the same direction. Conversations are grounded, and choices are guided by something deeper than opinion or urgency.

Without that point of view, the opposite occurs. Every decision becomes a debate. Priorities shift based on the loudest voice or the most immediate pressure. Energy is spent navigating internal friction rather than advancing in a clear direction. In that environment, progress slows, not because people aren’t working hard, but because they are not working from the same understanding of what truly matters.

Bringing Strategy Back to Its Essence

If the tourism industry is to reclaim the true meaning of strategy, it must first strip away what it has become and return to what it was always meant to be. Strategy is not an activity. It is not a collection of initiatives, nor is it a marketing plan dressed up in more sophisticated language. Those are output, important, but secondary.

At its core, strategy is something far more disciplined and intentional. It is a set of deliberate choices made with clarity and purpose. It provides direction in the face of uncertainty, offering a path forward even as conditions shift. It demands focus, not expansion for its own sake, and it requires the resolve to say no just as often as it says yes.

Most importantly, strategy is about defining what truly matters—and then organizing everything around it. It brings coherence to an organization, aligning effort, resources, and decisions toward a common aim. Without that discipline, even the most well-intentioned efforts can scatter. With it, even complex challenges begin to take shape more purposefully.

A Final Thought

The question facing every destination, organization, and leader is not whether a strategy exists. Most would confidently say that it does. The real question is something far more demanding: do we have the clarity and the courage to make the choices that strategy requires?

Clarity means understanding what truly matters, having a firm grasp of direction, purpose, and priorities. Courage is what brings that clarity to life. It is the willingness to act on it, to make difficult decisions, to set boundaries, and to move forward without trying to accommodate every possibility or please every audience.

In the end, strategy is not about language or presentation. It is not about appearing thoughtful or sophisticated. It is about decisiveness. It is about committing to a path and aligning actions behind it with intention. That is where strategy moves from concept to impact—and where its true power lies.

About SMG Consulting

SMG Consulting helps destinations and tourism organizations navigate change through strategy, creativity, and innovation. We help leaders see their world differently, align purpose with strategy, and build lasting competitive advantage.Learn more at www.smgconsulting.com.

About the AuthorCarl Ribaudo is the President and Chief Strategist of SMG Consulting. He has advised more than 65 destinations across the U.S. and is a recognized thought leader in destination strategy, economic development, and tourism innovation. His work bridges data, creativity, and strategy to help destinations thrive in changing times.

Contact

SMG ConsultingEmail: carl@smgonline.net