The clocks changed in Ireland last weekend and the evenings stretched out into Spring almost overnight. There’s always a shift in mood when that happens. The light lingers a little longer and it starts to feel like the year is opening up properly.
Spring has a way of creating a feeling of a lot more space in the day. That idea of ‘space’ has been a bit of a theme over the last month, particularly the idea of ‘holding space’.
'Holding Space' is a term used in facilitation. It means creating the conditions where people can think together, speak honestly and sometimes reach a place they couldn’t have reached alone.
I trained as a facilitator and this approach landed with me immediately. It spoke directly to two things I had been noticing for a long time in tourism: the importance of collective intelligence and the simple reality that destinations move through conversations.
Strategies, partnerships and shared direction all emerge from the quality of the conversations people are able to have together.
In fact, the name The Tourism Space was inspired by that idea. Our founding mission was simple: create and hold spaces where tourism conversations could happen well.
Sometimes that space is a training room, a conference stage, a field trip while at other times it’s much more private, holding space as a thinking partner and advisor to support a single person can make sense of a complex situation.
This month’s article explores why some of the most effective tourism leaders think more like facilitators than traditional managers.
Alongside it, we’ve included a short Leadership Brief with a simple preparation tool for important stakeholder conversations.
Hope you find them interesting and useful. We’ve included snaps from some of the learning spaces we’ve curated over the last month as well and our usual round up of Monthly Minis from around the world.
Remember to share this newsletter with anyone else you think may find it useful.
For now, it’s the Easter Bank Holiday weekend here in Ireland (the first half of our year has a public holiday every month and it’s a lovely bonus). Wherever you are and whatever you are celebrating, I wish you a wonderful Spring weekend!
Beir bua
Tina
You own nothing, nobody reports to you, nobody has to follow your lead. Yet you are responsible for the performance of an entire destination. Cooperation has to be facilitated. This month’s article explores 5 ways in which the most effective tourism leaders think like facilitators.
