AI-powered search is changing how travelers discover destinations. Rather than responding to a single query, AI expands each search into multiple related intents tied to real trip-planning behavior.

The 2026 Travel Marketing Whitepaper captures what destination marketers are experiencing right now—what worked in 2025, where familiar metrics are starting to fall short, and how leading DMOs are adjusting their strategies to stay relevant, competitive, and effective.

Last week, McDonald’s surprised people by announcing the return of Changeables—those late-’80s and early-’90s Happy Meal toys that transformed menu items into characters. For a lot of people, it was pure nostalgia. For marketers, it was a signal. What caught my attention wasn’t just the toys. It was the language. McDonald’s teased the return with a line about something coming “from [...]

We’re proud to celebrate Clay County Tourism for earning “Destination Verified” status from Wheel the World - a meaningful recognition of their commitment to creating welcoming, inclusive travel experiences.

We’re excited to welcome Paula Vann to Advance Travel & Tourism as a Senior Account Executive. With more than a decade of experience across destination leadership and visitor intelligence, Paula brings a strong understanding of how tourism supports both travelers and the communities they visit.

Reid Hoffman has a LinkedIn newsletter called “Long Reads,” which might be one of the best newsletter titles on the platform. In a recent issue, he talks about a product called Replit, a tool that helps people code and build programs using AI. But the product itself isn’t the most interesting part of the piece. It’s worth paying attention to is [...]