DMOU: Destination Marketing Organization University

After over 45 years in the Tourism trenches, Randy Fiveash retired last year for the second time after a sensational career in the Destination Marketing world. From his local DMO work in places like …

As we kick off a new year of conversations on DMOU, we start you off with a bang. Visit Lauderdale’s Stacy Ritter is a force of nature…and has been an unapologetic voice against some of the policies …

The Iowa City/Coralville metro population is roughly 175,000...and yet they host global events on an annual basis. In our last episode of 2023, we welcome our friend Josh Schamberger, CEO of Think Io…

Over the past 5 years, observers of Puerto Rico Tourism’s comeback from hurricanes, earthquakes, Zika, the Pandemic and political turmoil have marveled at the brilliant efforts of Discover Puerto Ric…

Josiah Brown (Famous Destination Marketing) is one of this sector's newest thought leaders. We had the opportunity to work with Josiah on a destination assessment project in 2018 and were instantly t…

After a brief travel-induced hiatus, DMOU is back with a wide-ranging conversation with New York City Tourism + Conventions' Fred Dixon. As Chair of Destinations International, Fred has laid out an a…

It was 2011 when several DMO pros in Illinois began discussing the potential to introduce State legislation to add Tourism Improvement Districts into their funding mix. Earlier this year, that legisl…

If there is a short list of thought leaders in the DMO world, Rick Antonson is always on that list. He was our first guest 20 years ago on the DMOU Teleseminar and our first guest on the the resurrec…

As Destination International’s Advocacy Summit is just around the corner, there’s no better time to talk with Visit Rapid City’s Brook Kaufman who, when she was with Visit Casper, ran and won a seat …

PCMA CEO Sherrif Karamat is one of the deepest thinkers in the business events space. And, not unlike those old EF Hutton commercials, when Sherrif talks, I listen. So, when he said that DMOs were fa…

Experience Columbia SC's Kelly Barbrey joins DMOU to share how her DMO has reimagined the traditional Ambassador program into a sensationally high-profile strategy that utilizes select residents as s…

When the moderator went to the audience this year at the Annual Convention of Destinations International asking, "what keeps you up at night," Lviv's Olena Pavlyuk held out her mobile device and repl…

Almost half of American States have legalized the recreational use of cannabis...but many DMOs in those States struggle with ways to promote the advantage they possess against States that don't. In t…

Each year at the Annual Convention of Destinations International, we roam the halls asking a single question. This year, that question was how DMOs were beginning to utilize Artificial Intelligence (…

This week, we welcome back Adam Stoker (the Podcast Whisperer) for a thought provoking conversation on how DMOs should view their role in promoting their communities. According to Adam, for years, we…

When the Houston CVB was folded into the Houston First Corporation, many saw the move as wrong-headed. But CVB CEO George Franz joins us to share the advantages that were realized in being closer lin…

When Robert Lopez took the helm of the Abilene CVB, he embarked upon a "Meeting and Eating" tour of community leaders. And, it became clear through those conversations that the destination brand had …

For many DMOs, Stewardship and Sustainability are the furthest thing from their minds as they refocus on a target rich environment. But we continue to focus on this fascinating evolution from DMO to …

The latest edition of America's Top Cities is out today and DMOU had the opportunity to talk with Resonance's Chris Fair on how the rankings are determined and why they matter. It's no surprise that …

For DMOs that produce destination events, it often consumes months of staff time. Yet, Visit Estes Park turned a festival that a neighboring community was preparing to sunset into an event that garne…