Visit Sarasota County (VSC), Sarasota County’s official destination marketing organization (DMO), has received a Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) re-accreditation with distinction at Destinations International’s (DI) Annual Convention. This is the highest international recognition in the travel and tourism industry and marks VSC’s eighth year of accreditation. Of the 48 DMOs that received a DMAP seal at this year’s DI Convention, there were nine, including VSC, that received accreditation with distinction.

According to DI, the DMAP accreditation program requires a destination organization to successfully comply with a multitude of mandatory and voluntary standards that span a variety of performance areas. The standards cover nearly all aspects related to the management and marketing of destination organizations including governance, finance, human resources, sales, communications, destination development and research. To earn accreditation with distinction, a DMO must also achieve the 21 aspirational standards, which are such due the variances in budgets between each organization. VSC met 20 of the 21 aspirational standards, with categories like long-range planning, employee wellness and social responsibility.

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