In a cluttered media landscape where attention is harder to win than ever, tourism marketers are being pushed to rethink how they drive awareness, influence travelers, and build long-term demand. That’s the core message behind Stronger Together: How Earned and Paid Media Work Better in Tandem, a recent webinar hosted with Southeast Tourism Society (STS), Advance Travel & Tourism, and Pineapple [...]

Events aren’t side dishes in the travel economy anymore, they’re becoming the main course. And if your destination isn’t treating them that way heading into 2026, you’re already behind. In a recent conversation on the Field Notes podcast, Rachel Normansell of Yodel joined me to unpack why events will be one of the biggest competitive advantages for DMOs in the coming [...]

This week, Chef Grant Achatz announced something almost unthinkable: for the first time since Michelin arrived in Chicago in 2011, Alinea dropped from a 3‑star to a 2‑star rating. That leaves just 13 three‑star restaurants in the United States. 20 Years of Innovation For nearly two decades, Alinea has represented reinvention. Even its name, taken from the symbol for a new [...]

How Canva’s New Creative OS Transforms Content for Travel Marketers   Canva has officially unveiled the largest product launch in its history, an overhaul so big they’re calling it their new Creative Operating System. For travel marketers, this update represents a fundamental shift: Canva is no longer just a design tool. It’s now a mission-critical platform for planning, creating, distributing, and [...]

We talk a lot about culture, in part because culture always tells you where technology stands. Culture does this long before the analysts do, you just have to listen to the language people use. The term for this new language is a retronym: something added after the fact to differentiate the original from the new. Retronyms appear when culture needs new [...]

Google’s newest travel-focused AI features, Canvas, Flight Deals, and agentic booking, signal a shift in how travelers plan, build, and book trips. Instead of bouncing through dozens of tabs, travelers can now generate itineraries, compare options, and complete reservations inside Google Search’s AI Mode. For travel marketers and tourism professionals, this marks the beginning of a new competitive landscape: AI-first trip [...]

You’re investing time and budget into both upper-funnel inspiration and lower-funnel conversion—but how do you prove it’s working? The answer lies in moving beyond simple traffic numbers and focusing on the right data points. To effectively measure the success of your efforts, you need to prioritize dedicated data analysis using powerful tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).

In 1999, Seth Godin wrote "Permission Marketing," introducing a revolutionary approach to connecting with audiences. His insight was profound yet simple: a marketer's job isn't just to "get someone to move," it's to get them to care first, then guide them toward action. That permission-based thinking transformed how we all approach marketing. From Marketing Philosophy to AI Strategy Earlier this [...]

Drop the Beat How often do you think about rhythm? Or, put differently, how often are you and your team paying attention to pattern recognition? This time of year makes it obvious: the visual shift from green to amber to white, the cultural cadence from back-to-school to Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. Spotting cultural patterns is the [...]