Destination Discourse

Dan Flores, Head of Tourism at Satisfi Labs, joins Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker with an uncomfortable premise: most DMOs are still treating AI like a gadget instead of a coworker. Dan explains why "we need AI on the website" isn't a strategy, and why organizations without a written, department-by-department plan can't assign ownership, measure ROI, or know if a tool is actually working. The conve...

Most DMOs talk about economic impact. Chris Fair, CEO of Resonance Co and author of the annual Best Cities report, talks about something harder to measure — and more consequential: whether a city is actually lovable. In this episode, Fair shares data from Resonance's perception vs. performance analysis across hundreds of destinations. The gap between how a place performs on objective metrics and h...

Most DMOs measure success in website clicks and visitor guide downloads. Gary Sherwin has spent 20 years at Visit Newport Beach asking a harder question: if you disappeared tomorrow, would your stakeholders call you essential - or just convenient? This episode covers the implications of Google I/O, where itinerary builders and shopping carts inside search may soon make the DMO website an afterthou...

Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back Dan Holowack (CrowdRift) and Jeanette Roush (Brand USA) for a tactical deep dive into how DMOs are actually using AI day-to-day. The episode opens with a provocative Stu's News: 92% of respondents to an AI-enthusiast newsletter poll said they want more regulation — a number that surprises even the hosts. The group unpacks the growing backlash, from commen...

What happens when destination marketing organizations start optimizing for short-term ROI at the exact moment AI is fundamentally changing how travelers discover destinations? In this thought-provoking episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back recurring guest Emily Zertuche for one of the most important conversations the show has tackled yet. The discussion dives...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Dan Gibson, CEO of Visit McMinnville and former journalist, to explore the collapse of local media — and what DMOs should do about it. Topics include: • Anthropic's Claude for Small Business launch and what it means for destination marketers • The state of local journalism and the storytelling void it leaves behi...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker share a live session recorded at Destinations International’s MarCom Summit, where they challenge the industry to rethink the role, purpose, and value of destination marketing organizations. The live conversation focuses on a first-principles question every DMO should be asking: Why do we exist? From there, Stuart and Adam exp...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by AI leaders Janette Roush and Dan Holowack for a fast-moving, no-fluff conversation on where AI is actually going—and what DMOs are missing right now. After some classic banter (and a custom-made Stu’s News jingle created at the gym), the conversation quickly shifts into a deeper look at how tools like Claude are...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Matt Vinson from Visit Dallas for a conversation about what destination marketing can learn from fresh perspectives, especially from sports, technology, and outside industries. After a chaotic intro, Adam’s public apology, and Matt’s brave admission that he hates the Stu’s News theme song, the group dives into th...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker record together in Myrtle Beach for a conversation that gets personal, practical, and a little uncomfortable—in the best way. Stuart introduces a framework he’s been shaping over time: scrappy always wins. But this isn’t about doing more with less or glorifying hustle. It’s about something deeper. Scrappy is defined here as th...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler, Adam Stoker, and returning guest Matt Stiker tackle one of the most entertaining—and surprisingly important—questions in destination marketing: Are DMOs too focused on the “D”… and not enough on the “O”? Yes, the title is a little clickbaity. Yes, the jokes write themselves. But underneath it is a real conversation about relevance, value, an...

What happens when travelers start treating their vacation calendar like a strategy game? In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back Caleb Sullivan for a conversation that starts with podcast banter, Claude productivity talk, and a plug for Caleb’s new podcast, Give Me Some Good News — then quickly turns into a smart discussion about a timely tourism market...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are back for a long-overdue one-on-one conversation, and they waste no time jumping into two big topics that could reshape destination marketing. First, Stuart shares why he believes AI has reached another watershed moment. He breaks down how his team at Visit Myrtle Beach is using Claude Co-Work not just as a chatbot, but as...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined once again by AI strategist C.A. Clark for a wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence, adoption gaps, and what the technology actually means for the future of work in tourism. The discussion begins with a look at recent job market data and the growing debate around whether AI is already affecting empl...

Destination marketing has a sameness problem, and this episode tackles it head-on. Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Matt Stiker and Katy Livingston of Madden Media for a conversation about why so much destination advertising feels interchangeable, what “destination gentrification” looks like in practice, and why safe, committee-friendly marketing often leads to forgettable work. Before...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Alex Husner and Annie Holcombe from the Alex & Annie Podcast for a candid conversation about the evolving relationship between DMOs and the vacation rental industry. They start with Stu’s News and a timely discussion about Google building agentic AI directly into Chrome, using travel booking as one of the hea...

This episode of Destination Discourse starts in the most on-brand way possible: with Christian Mengel joining live from the Kansas City airport, turning the conversation into a truly mobile edition of the show. After a quick round of banter and Stu’s News on Apple’s latest promises around Siri, the conversation shifts into a much bigger question for the destination industry: what is the real role...

A new (intentionally terrible) Stu’s News jingle makes its debut, January downloads surge, and Jason Holic of Experience Kissimmee shares how his team is stepping into water safety as part of destination stewardship. This episode moves beyond traditional demand generation and asks a bigger question: What is a DMO actually responsible for? ⸻ What You’ll Hear in This Episode  • A brand-new Stu’s New...

In this episode of Destination Discourse , Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back industry legend Bill Geist for a no-nonsense masterclass on DMO board governance. The conversation starts with Stu’s News , exploring what OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Health product—and Google pulling back on AI health recommendations—signals about trust, adoption, and the future of AI verticals , including travel. Then...

If you’ve ever felt like your DMO is five different organizations wearing the same logo… this episode will feel very familiar. Stuart and Adam welcome Danielle Hollander from Visit Orlando for her first appearance on Destination Discourse. After a slightly unhinged (and very “letter M”) opening, the conversation settles into something deeply practical: why DMOs so often feel siloed—and what it act...

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler (Visit Myrtle Beach) and Adam Stoker (Brand Revolt) record live at the South Carolina Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Instead of a traditional presentation, they brought the podcast format to the stage. No slides. No scripted panel. Just live audience polling and an open conversation about what’s really happening in the tourism industry. It...

Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker kick off the episode shaking off post-holiday rust with their signature mix of self-awareness, banter, and big-picture thinking. A deliberately terrible German intro, a mistranslated last name, and a few early laughs set the tone before welcoming Eddie Kirsch from Visit St. Pete Clearwater—a guest who sits at the intersection of storytelling, data, and performance. Th...

It’s the first recording of 2026, and Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back Emily Zertuche for round three. After a quick (and rusty) start, they dive into a timely question: as agentic AI accelerates, are DMOs’ fragmented data stacks and inconsistent narratives becoming a credibility risk? Using a Stu’s News example (L’Oréal’s partnership with NVIDIA), the conversation explores how major bra...

Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Amir Eylon (Longwoods International) broadcasting from “Snowmageddon Aftermath” in Ohio to talk about what matters beyond the AI headlines. Yes, they still touch AI, including early chatter about ads inside ChatGPT and what that could mean for destinations. But the heart of the conversation is a 2026 reset: get back to basics, remember why people travel,...

Stuart and Adam open with a quick Miracle Morning check-in (45 days strong) and a reminder that early wins matter before work even starts. In Stu’s News, they unpack Steve Hill’s optimistic comments about Las Vegas tourism despite recent declines, and debate whether bold confidence is leadership or risk. Then the main event: predictions for 2026 submitted by “the Desties” (plus a few familiar frie...