Think Like A Visitor

One of the greatest strengths of a destination marketing organization (DMO) is its ability to bring people together. Hotels, restaurants, attractions, elected officials, business owners, community organizations, and residents all have a stake in the destination's success. Naturally, DMO leaders want to keep everyone informed. But there is a point where communication stops building relationships and starts creating noise. Many destination leaders assume that more communication is always better. More newsletters, meetings, surveys, committee updates, and requests for participation. And if every message is labeled "important," eventually none of them feels important at all. This is stakeholder fatigue, and it is becoming increasingly common. The signs are often subtle at first. Attendance at meetings begins to decline. Email open rates fall. Surveys receive fewer responses. Advisory committees struggle to maintain participation. Partners stop returning calls as quickly as th...

Every destination marketing organization (DMO) spends time preparing for crises that originate outside the organization. Economic downturns. Hurricanes. Public health emergencies. Political controversies. Changes in travel patterns. Yet one of the most disruptive events a DMO can experience often receives the least attention: the sudden loss of its CEO. Whether caused by retirement, illness, resignation, or an unexpected opportunity, leadership transitions can quickly expose weaknesses that have been hidden for years. If important relationships exist only in one person's phone, or financial processes live only in one person's memory, or strategic direction depends entirely on one individual's experience, the organization isn't resilient, it's vulnerable. Building organizational resilience means ensuring the DMO can continue to operate effectively, regardless of who occupies the corner office. Succession Planning Isn't Just for Retirement Many boards assume succe...

  One of the most overlooked questions in destination marketing isn't, "What should we do next?" It's "What should we stop doing?" Every destination marketing organization is filled with programs, events, publications, partnerships, and traditions that once made perfect sense. Many were successful. Some were innovative. Others were created to solve a specific challenge that no longer exists. Yet year after year, they remain in the budget, on staff work plans, and on board agendas simply because they've always been there. That isn't strategy. It's inertia. Peter Drucker frequently described strategic abandonment as one of management's most important responsibilities. He believed organizations should regularly examine everything they do and ask a difficult question: If we weren't already doing this today, would we start doing it now? For DMO leaders, that question can be surprisingly uncomfortable. Legacy Programs Have Hidden Costs Ev...

Destination Marketing Organizations are relationship-driven businesses. Success depends on collaboration, creativity, trust, and a shared commitment to serving visitors, stakeholders, and the community. While DMO leaders spend considerable time building external relationships, one of the most difficult leadership challenges often emerges internally: managing an employee who has become toxic to the organization. Toxic employees can be found in organizations of every size. They may be high performers, long-term staff members, or even individuals with strong industry knowledge. What makes them toxic is not necessarily their job performance but the negative impact they have on workplace culture, morale, teamwork, and organizational effectiveness. For a DMO President-CEO, ignoring the problem is rarely an option. The first responsibility of leadership is to objectively identify the behavior. Toxicity can take many forms: constant negativity, gossip, undermining coworkers, resistance to chan...

For many destination marketing organization CEOs, the job description appears straightforward: attract visitors, support the local tourism industry, and promote the destination. In reality, however, the most important responsibility of a DMO leader may have little to do with marketing at all. Today's DMO CEO serves as a chief "sense maker." Every day, destination leaders are bombarded with information. Research reports arrive weekly. Stakeholders offer opinions from every direction. Board members bring their own priorities and perspectives. Elected officials have expectations. Industry trends emerge and evolve rapidly. Economic conditions shift. Technology changes. Consumer behavior changes. Sometimes, seemingly contradictory data points compete for attention. The challenge is not a lack of information. The challenge is determining what matters. One of the CEO's most valuable contributions is filtering information overload into meaningful insight. Staff members, board...

  If you lead a Destination Marketing Organization, criticism comes with the territory. Sometimes it arrives in a board meeting. Sometimes it appears in an email from a hotel partner. Occasionally, it shows up on social media where everyone can see it. Whether the criticism is fair, unfair, constructive, or emotional, how you respond often matters more than the criticism itself. One of the most valuable tools a DMO President/CEO can use is the RAIN Method: Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture. Originally developed as a mindfulness practice, RAIN offers a practical framework for processing feedback without spiraling into self-doubt or shutting down emotionally. Recognize What Is Happening The first step is simply acknowledging your reaction. When criticism arrives, most leaders experience an immediate emotional response. You may feel defensive, embarrassed, frustrated, angry, or even fearful. Before responding, recognize what is happening internally. Ask yourself: What am I fe...