63: What Questions Would You Ask a DMO If You Were New to the Industry? (Dustin Rowe)
This episode turns into a rapid-fire tour through the DMO reality: what the job actually is, why ROI is so hard to prove, how resident sentiment fits into the visitor economy, and where “marketing” ends and “product” begins.
Dustin’s “Stu’s News”: the airline loyalty backlash
Dustin brings a story that’s catching heat online: American Airlines no longer lets customers earn miles on Basic Economy (for new bookings). Adam doesn’t get the logic and argues it removes a reason to stay loyal. Stuart plays devil’s advocate and suggests the airline likely ran the numbers and decided the tradeoff was worth it, even if customers complain. Then Stuart admits he doesn’t actually like the change at all and was just enjoying the debate.
What DMOs do, and why it’s hard to explain
Dustin shares that friends and family often don’t understand what a DMO is, and the only time they notice is when public funding hits the news. Adam frames the DMO role as building a long-term, sustainable economic pillar for the community through tourism. Stuart admits the industry has a branding problem because “if you’ve seen one DMO, you’ve seen one DMO,” and that ambiguity could come back to bite. He describes DMOs as sitting at the intersection of government, residents, businesses, and stakeholders, protecting and growing the visitor economy while managing the balance between tourism’s positives and negatives.
The ROI problem: marketing that doesn’t own the transaction
Dustin asks the big one: how do you prove ROI on long-term projects like Traveling the Spectrum versus tactical channels like paid search and social ads? Stuart says it requires assumptions, stakeholder education, and defining what you can measure upfront—reach, earned media, cultural conversation, and anecdotal signals from surveys and visitor feedback. Adam adds his hunting versus farming analogy: stakeholders love “hunting” because it’s measurable, but “farming” builds residual value that can last for years, even decades.
Backlash, risk, and the Reddit lesson
Dustin asks whether DMOs have experienced marketing backlash. Adam says a lot of pushback is just anti-tourism sentiment in certain communities rather than controversy from creative. Stuart tells a story about two Reddit campaigns: one that leaned into AI satire and went viral in a good way, and another that tried to poke fun at Gen Z culture and got shut down quickly because it was perceived as punching down. The lesson: risk can pay off, but satire has rules.
Locals vs visitors: are DMOs missing the resident opportunity?
Dustin pushes on whether DMO content—especially event information—should be designed for locals as much as visitors. Stuart says Visit Myrtle Beach needs to do a better job talking to residents and building civic pride, especially around downtown events and community participation. Adam makes the case that residents are one of the biggest drivers of visitation because visiting friends and relatives is such a large portion of travel, and it’s backwards that many funding structures restrict in-market messaging. Stuart agrees residents matter, but argues DMOs shouldn’t try to do it alone; it takes a coordinated ecosystem with city, county, chambers, and partner organizations.
Product vs marketing: what really drives reputation
To wrap, Dustin asks how they think about destination product versus destination promotion. Stuart says the experience is the main thing—marketing can influence, but the on-the-ground product determines whether people return and tell friends. He argues DMOs should increasingly be involved in product and experience, not just promotion. Adam keeps it simple: as marketing sophistication increases, investment and focus on product should rise right alongside it.
Closing
They close with how to find Dustin and tease seeing people at February conferences. Then the conversation keeps going after the “official” outro with candid advice to Dustin on how to grow a vendor business in this industry: lean hard into testimonials, simple case studies, and asking for warm introductions—because trust and relationships are the real currency.