About the author
I’ve been going to these travel & tourism events for years, and each one offers something valuable. But the Destinations International Annual Convention is definitely the big dance.
This is where the industry’s biggest ideas are tested. It’s where destination leaders compare notes on what’s working, challenge conventional thinking, and work to define what’s next for destination organizations.
Earlier this year, before the Destinations International CEO Summit, I wrote about the leadership conversations destination executives needed to be having, from redefining the role of the DMO and embracing AI to building stronger community relationships and proving organizational value.
And those conversations haven’t gone away. If anything, I’d say they’ve become even more urgent.
Consider what happened with Carmel-by-the-Sea, where resident concerns over overtourism recently led city leaders to pause nearly $300,000 in tourism marketing funding. But the DMO isn’t the only thing driving visitation. Travelers are discovering the destination through TikTok, Instagram, and countless other channels. In fact, the DMO is one of the few organizations actively promoting responsible visitation and educating travelers on how to be good guests. When communities understand the DMO’s role and the value it brings, it’s far less likely to become the scapegoat for challenges it didn’t create.
Now, as we gather in Portland for DIAC 2026, we need to shift from why all these changes matter to how to put them into practice. DMOs are navigating new technologies, shifting traveler behaviors, political uncertainty, resident expectations, and increasing accountability.
This year’s theme of “Solutions for Today. Strategies for Tomorrow.” couldn’t be more appropriate.
Here are the conversations I’m looking forward to:
1. If travelers are planning trips with AI, how should destination marketing evolve?
Six months ago, most conversations centered around using AI to become more productive. Today, the ask feels more strategic. How do destinations remain discoverable when travelers are asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit instead of Google?
Destination visibility now depends on being present across the entire digital ecosystem.
Ask your peers:
- How are you preparing for AI-powered travel planning?
- Are you measuring visibility beyond Google rankings?
- What content is actually being cited by AI platforms?
- How are you structuring destination content for large language models?
- Which channels are becoming your largest discovery drivers?
The destinations winning tomorrow need to become the most trusted source of information, wherever travelers begin their research.
Check out Envisionit’s on-demand Search Everywhere Optimization webinar covering YouTube search visibility for a quick primer.
2. What story are we telling residents about the value of tourism?
Perhaps no conversation has become more important than resident sentiment. DMOs are increasingly expected to demonstrate that tourism improves quality of life.
Residents want to know:
How does tourism support local businesses?
Does tourism create year-round jobs?
Is visitor growth benefiting our community?
Are we protecting what makes this place special?
Marketing data alone can’t answer these questions. DMOs need to be storytellers, educators, conveners, and community advocates.
Here are some provocative conversation starters:
- How are you measuring resident sentiment?
- What messaging has improved community support?
- Which partnerships have strengthened trust with local stakeholders?
- How are you communicating tourism’s economic impact throughout the year?
Check out this article about tracking resident sentiment to prepare.
3. Are our KPIs measuring marketing activity, or real destination impact?
Visitor volume will always matter. But it seems that boards, elected officials, and stakeholders are asking more sophisticated questions.
Now DMOs are tackling questions like:
- Are visitors spending more?
- Are we attracting the right audiences?
- Are visits occurring year-round?
- Are our marketing investments generating measurable business outcomes?
- Are we supporting long-term destination health?
The industry’s KPIs are evolving from marketing metrics toward DMO impact.
Make sure you’re prepared by asking other destination leaders:
- What new KPIs are your board requesting?
- How are you connecting marketing performance to economic development?
- What dashboards are proving most valuable?
- How do you report success beyond website traffic and heads-in-beds?
See how you can build systems to measure what actually drives profitable customer acquisition.
4. Is our data helping us make faster decisions or just creating more reports?
DMOs have more data than ever before, like visitor analytics, partner data, CRM insights, website behavior, AI insights… and it goes on.
Collecting the information is no problem. But what do you do with it? How do you use it to make faster, smarter decisions?
As a destination marketer, DIAC is an opportunity to connect with your peers and ask:
- Which data sources have become indispensable?
- How are you eliminating reporting silos?
- Where has predictive analytics changed your marketing strategy?
- How are you using first-party data to personalize visitor communications?
Choose Chicago evolved their analytics approach to pair hard performance data with real-time sentiment insights, social listening, search trends, and audience behavior across platforms for a record-setting year.
5. What happens when Google is no longer the only place travelers search?
Competition has changed dramatically. You’re no longer competing only against neighboring cities or similar destinations.
DMOs are in direct competition with:
- AI-generated recommendations
- Creator content
- Travel influencers
- User-generated videos
- Review platforms
- Social search
- Online communities
- Booking platforms
- Streaming content
Basically, every other source shaping traveler inspiration.
“Your site isn’t the front door anymore, “ says Senior SEO Manager Erik Martin. “It’s one room people and their agents reach after several decisions have already happened somewhere you don’t control.”
Here are some easy (but important) conversation starters you can bring to DIAC 2026:
- Which platforms are driving discovery today?
- Has social search changed your content strategy?
- How are you balancing owned, earned, and creator content?
- Where are travelers finding you first?
See how you can take the lead in modern organic search visibility.
6. Could accessibility become one of our strongest differentiators?
It’s fitting that this year’s convention takes place in Oregon, the first U.S. state to achieve statewide Accessibility Verified status.
Accessibility is becoming part of destination strategy. Accessible experiences improve travel for everyone while expanding visitor reach and strengthening community inclusion.
Questions worth asking:
- How are accessibility initiatives influencing marketing?
- How are destination partners improving accessible experiences?
- What resources have helped move accessibility from initiative to culture?
- How are you communicating accessibility to potential visitors?
Check out these inclusive (and lucrative) destination marketing strategies to bring some interesting industry facts and stats to the conversation.
7. Who should be sitting at the destination marketing table that isn’t today?
The strongest DMOs increasingly operate as connectors, bringing together municipalities, attractions, hotels, restaurants, transportation providers, local businesses, sports organizations, cultural institutions, and residents around shared goals.
As budgets remain constrained, collaboration becomes one of the highest-return investments available.
Ask peers:
- Which partnerships created the biggest impact this year?
- How are you aligning community stakeholders around shared objectives?
- Where have private-sector partnerships accelerated innovation?
- How are you engaging local businesses as destination ambassadors?
Be sure to check out data partnership infrastructure (and other indicators of the expanding leadership role of DMOs).
8. What skills will destination teams need three years from now that they don’t have today?
As technology changes, so too will traveler expectations… and the DMO workforce will need to adapt to meet them.
Right now, DMO leadership should be asking:
- How are we helping staff build AI skills?
- Which new roles are emerging inside destination organizations?
- How are you recruiting the next generation of tourism leaders?
- What leadership habits are helping organizations navigate constant change?
Future-ready organizations begin with future-ready teams. See why DMOs need to break away from ‘safe’ technology, and how AI has made your CMS an MVP.
DIAC keynotes will inspire, but the breakout sessions will educate
I find the conversations that often have the greatest impact happen between sessions, over coffee, during networking events, and walking the exhibit floor.
I always say we need to embrace the safe space at events like this. Ask someone what’s working. Ask someone what failed. Ask what they’re worried about. Ask what they’re excited about. That’s where the industry’s best ideas tend to emerge.
Let’s continue the conversation
Destination marketing is entering one of its most exciting periods of transformation. AI is reshaping discovery, search is expanding beyond search engines, and data is becoming more readable and actionable.
And DMOs have an incredible opportunity to redefine the value they create for visitors, residents, businesses, and communities.
If you’ll be in Portland, OR the week of July 20, let’s find time to connect at Destinations International Annual Convention 2026.
Let’s compare notes on what you’re seeing, what’s changing in your market, and how destination organizations can continue building stronger communities while creating unforgettable visitor experiences.
See you there!
