Destination Discourse

Ep 77 — Is Your Paid Media Strategy Built for a World That No Longer Exists?

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT

A long-overdue one-on-one. Stuart walks through how Visit Myrtle Beach is running Claude Co-Work as a teammate — board decks, stakeholder updates, analytics translation — and makes the case that AI adoption has quietly crossed a line. Adam counters on paid media: most destinations are still running an annual plan when the job has become amplifying content that has already earned attention. The argument lands on measurement, creative risk, and whether the funnel still exists in a form anyone should be modeling.

Ep 76 — Are We Treating AI Like Google Instead of a Co-Worker?

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Three co-hosts in practice this week. C.A. Clark brings job-market data and a sharp frame: most organizations claim to use AI but are functionally running it as a slightly smarter search engine. Meanwhile the tools keep compounding. The argument in the room is that learning to work alongside non-human intelligence is a skill — not a tool adoption — and the destinations that invest in the skill will open a gap that compounds too.

Ep 75 — Has Destination Marketing Been Gentrified?

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Matt and Katy from Madden Media press on a take you don't hear enough: destination marketing has a sameness problem, and committee-friendly work is how it got here. The episode examines what "destination gentrification" looks like in practice — a homogenized visual language, a homogenized tone, a homogenized audience definition — and why the safest creative choice is usually the most forgettable one.

Ep 74 — Why Aren't DMOs and Vacation Rentals Working Together?

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

The vacation rental industry has always sat awkwardly inside destination marketing — sometimes partner, sometimes competitor, usually under-represented. Alex and Annie draw the real distinction between legacy leisure-market rentals and the broader short-term-rental category that's exploded in urban markets. Layered on top: Google embedding agentic AI directly into Chrome, with travel booking as the flagship use case. The question stops being theoretical fast.

Ep 73 — Are DMOs Facing an Identity Crisis?

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Three predictions for 2026: more mergers and acquisitions, earned media rising, and a real reckoning about DMO purpose. That third one eats the episode. How far should a DMO go into building tourism product? Where is the line between promotion and participation? What happens when an industry can measure more than ever before — and still struggles to explain what it's actually worth?

Ep 72 — Should DMOs Be Responsible for Visitor Safety?

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Jason walks through Experience Kissimmee's water-safety program — unambiguously outside the traditional demand-generation remit, and arguably the most valuable thing the DMO does. The conversation keeps returning to the bigger question: is the DMO the fuel of the tourism engine, or the mechanic? Adam pushes back that chasing side quests dilutes the core. Stuart's view has shifted.

Ep 71 — Are You Committing the Three Deadly Sins of Board Governance?

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Bill Geist is blunt: every major DMO problem traces back to the board, and most boards commit the same three sins — weak succession planning, non-existent orientation, and over-choreographed meetings that kill engagement before it starts. A practical masterclass for anyone navigating governance reform, political pressure, or the growing trust gap between destinations and the stakeholders they serve.

Ep 70 — Are Silos Holding DMOs Back?

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Danielle's first appearance on the show opens with a frame most DMO leaders will recognize immediately: the organization isn't one business, it's several, and the teams running them barely talk. The conversation pulls apart why that's structural (not a people problem), what cross-functional work actually looks like when it works, and why the single biggest barrier to destination-wide marketing is usually internal, not market-facing.

Ep 1 — Will AI Destroy the DMO?

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 12:00:00 GMT

The first episode — Stuart and Adam set the premise for the entire show. If AI fundamentally changes how travelers research, plan, and book, what happens to the DMO as an institution? Full episode and show notes land when the Megaphone feed is wired up.

Ep 26 — What Happens to DMOs When Everything Changes?

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Stuart sits with the discomfort most DMO leaders only share in private meetings. If funding changes, if the transaction disappears, if residents push back harder — what does the organization actually become? Full episode lands when the Megaphone feed is wired up.

Ep 50 — How Have Our Views Changed After 50 Episodes?

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT

At 50 episodes deep, the hosts name the takes each of them has changed, softened, or reversed — on AI, on DMOs, on measurement, on agencies. Full episode lands when the Megaphone feed is wired up.