Destination Leadership
Destination Marketing and Community Partnerships
Destination marketing has evolved to become more than heads in beds with a stronger focus on engaging the community at large. Modern destination marketers are charged with marketing their community to visitors and residents, they are the keeper of the community brand, are integral to economic development. They go beyond tactical marketing and rely on…
Read MoreMaking a Career in Travel and Tourism
I attended the Destinations International Annual Convention recently and talked to several members of the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. I wanted to know what they would tell future tourism professionals about working in the industry. What they shared is what many of us already know: the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry is vibrant and…
Read MoreWhat is Accessibility in Tourism?
Travel is an incredibly life-enriching and rewarding experience, yet it is still inaccessible to many people. Twenty-five percent of the world’s population live with different forms of disabilities. Without widespread accessibility in the tourism industry, this segment remains untapped. This not only limits individuals who are unable to access destinations or services on their own…
Read MoreTourism Marketing for a Milestone Event: Getting Ready for the 2024 Eclipse
Milestones are major events that mark significant change or a new development. Milestones are also markers along the way to know that you are progressing on your path or towards your goal. A milestone event such as a big anniversary historical event, or astrological event like the total solar eclipse offers a community the opportunity…
Read MoreHow to Leverage Local in Your Tourism Marketing
Visiting friends and family is an often overlooked travel motivation for incoming visitors when it comes to tourism marketing. It was one of the top choices (62%) for travel motivations in the 2021 US Family Travel Survey. In a survey on why people travel published by Pacaso in January 2023, 38% of respondents named visiting…
Read MoreAre DMOs Evolving into Placemakers?
I have been exploring the changing role of destination marketing organizations (DMOs) through conversations with guests on my podcast Destination on the Left. My interest revolves around DMOs taking a more holistic approach to managing a destination’s brand and story by engaging with locals and serving the community in addition to focusing on attracting visitors.…
Read MoreBuilding Relationships for Partnership Marketing
Museums have a unique perspective in the tourism industry, and they form their collaborations and change around community. What can other tourism attractions and destinations learn from these foundational relationships with the community? How can we approach partnership marketing in new ways that fuel change and build more than visitation? Museums are cultural institutions, aiming…
Read More10 Must-listen Podcasts for Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Professionals
This week I celebrate 6 years since I launched my podcast, Destination on the Left, an award-winning show focused on creativity and collaboration in the travel and tourism industry. This week also marks the airing of my 300th episode and more than 75,000 downloads, more milestone markers crossed! Since launching one of the first podcasts…
Read MoreThe DMO of the Future
Everything we’ve gone through in the past few years has fast-forwarded the role of the DMO. It started to change shape, both to get through the pandemic and as a result of changes in our world. Many of these changes were already underway. We have been talking about place-making and destination management and cathedral thinking for…
Read MoreCo-opetition: Good For Business
I am a huge believer in co-opetition – where perceived competitors cooperate and together create something bigger than they could do on their own. It is this type of collaboration that I think makes the biggest impact and the guests on my podcast Destination on the Left believe it too. I have been learning from…
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