I’ve written previously on TourismIQ about the delicate balance of focusing on the D and the O of “DMO,” and Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker were also gracious enough to have me on the Destination Discourse podcast talking about it.

Today, at the risk of suffering through more 13-year-old-boy jokes, I want to continue to talk briefly about the O. But a different kind of O.

In the tourism industry, the assumption is automatic that the organization (the O) is focused on tourism.

“We are the destination’s marketers,” (or managers, or leaders, or stewards, depending on your particular leaning), we proclaim. “We know the destination better than anyone, our remit impacts millions of dollars of economic impact.”

And it’s not necessarily wrong. But it’s also not necessarily right.

See, when we do that, we’re somewhat focused on a very narrow definition, a view that isolates the function (destination marketing) to a particular type of organization, one that’s focused on tourism.

But it’s a little like the legend of the six blind men and the elephant.

For those not familiar, here’s the brief synopsis:

Six blind men are asked to step up to an elephant, to touch it with their hands, and then to step away and describe the elephant.

“It’s like a long thick rope,” said the blind man who grasped the elephant’s tail.

“No, it’s a broad rough wall,” replied the blind man who touched the elephant’s side.

The blind man who grabbed one of its legs said, “You’re both crazy, the elephant is like a tree trunk.”

And so on, you get the point.

Because ultimately, for all that the tourism-focused DMO “sees” the whole destination, they really only have one view of it.

In point of fact, a city or state’s economic development team are also “marketing the destination.” Sometimes the local Chamber of Commerce does as well.

Convention center staff market the destination, often within prescribed and approved parameters in conjunction with the tourism board.

Healthcare organizations and higher ed institutions market the destination – their success often relies on people from outside the destination coming in to take advantage of (and pay for) their services, therefore the place is an essential part of their story.

Sports commissions market the destination. Music commissions market the destination.

So too do film commissions.

All of these organizations are destination marketing organizations, all are technically DMOs. They use different tools and methods, they have different skills and selling mechanisms, they speak to different audiences, but they’re all marketing the destination.

And they’re all seeking the economic impact that comes from doing so.

Please don’t get me wrong here; I’m not in any way dismissing the importance of a tourism-focused DMO. I am a firm believer in – and subscriber to – what’s been referred to as “The Halo Effect,” a body of research done by my friend Amir Eylon and his team at Longwoods International.

In it, they uncovered that “tourism advertising by a destination and subsequent visitation significantly improved the image of that destination not just as a place to visit, but also for a wide range of other economic development objectives.” Such as those mentioned above.

So tourism remains an essential – some might say, and I might agree – the MOST essential part of the destination marketing elephant.

But it doesn’t mean those other organizations aren’t also DMOs.

Let’s talk film commissions as an example (slightly self-serving and decidedly not random selection there – you’ll see in a sec where I’m going)…

Bringing a film (or TV) production to a destination is effectively a double-whammy of economic impact.

The first whammy is when the production comes to the destination in the first place – the shoot. And while for some reason shoots are often perceived as “a bunch of Hollywood-types flying in and then flying out taking their dollars with them,” the reality is very different.

In fact, in research recently conducted by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), when a movie or television show shoots on location, it introduces an immediate, daily boost to the surrounding municipality. Their figures indicate that an average production can inject upwards of $670,000 per day into the local economy.

A comprehensive Montana Department of Commerce / Econsult Solutions economic analysis breaks that figure down more specifically, pointing out that film productions routinely hire and buy from a diverse array of local businesses, including:
Construction & Hardware: Lumber yards, hardware stores, and paint suppliers for set building
Hospitality & Food: Catering companies, local restaurants, transportation services, and thousands of hotel room nights
Services: Local dry cleaners (for costumes), florists, printing shops, private security firms, and equipment rental companies

And when that impact hits smaller municipalities, it’s highly concentrated. For example, data tracked by the Oklahoma Municipal League highlighted that even minor, independent productions filming in smaller towns spent upwards of $25,000 just renting downtown storefronts and another $23,000 strictly on local lodging over short shooting windows.

Figures released by the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission at the end of last year indicated that more than 550 productions hired more than 30,000 crew members.

Back to the original point, no production flies in 30,000 people for a film – those are local jobs, local families, supporting local economies.

But the second whammy is even more impactful. Most of you will be familiar with the trend “SetJetting” (now available as an app!), in which visitors make it a point to visit sites that have been featured in films, or TV shows.

According to Expedia’s 2026 Set-Jetting Forecast, this trend has officially gone mainstream, becoming a potential $8.4 billion industry in the U.S. alone. An incredible 81% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers report that they now actively plan getaways based entirely on what they see on television and movie screens.

As an example, following the debut of the HBO MAX series Heated Rivalry, accommodation searches for the primary filming location of Muskoka, Canada, spiked by 110% almost overnight. Regional spillover benefited surrounding hub cities as well, causing search surges in Boston (+85%) and Toronto (+55%) as fans mapped out travel itineraries.

And lest you think those folks are just there for the in-n-out Instagram moment, Expedia’s consumer data reveals that of travelers who booked a trip explicitly because of an on-screen location, 25% spent between $1,000 and $2,000 per trip strictly on localized expenses (lodging, dining, and local transport). Suggesting that the film or TV show has created a desire for them to make an investment (financial and emotional) in being in the place.

And yes, you’re probably thinking that inviting those SetJetters to a destination is more the responsibility of the tourism folks than the film folks – and you’re right.

But before visitors can be invited to a destination where a film or TV show took place, that film or TV show needs to be made there.

Which is why investing in bringing productions creates the potential to yield the significant economic benefit mentioned above.

Which is why “marketing the destination” to filmmakers, production companies, screenwriters, location scouts makes all kinds of sense.

Which is, in fact, one of the primary roles of a film commission.

Which, therefore and by definition, makes them a Destination Marketing Organization.

Why, Matt, why are you taking up all this real estate (and time) to explain such a simple concept? Why, Matt, is that nomenclature so important?

Because for whatever reason, many (most?) destinations aren’t seeing it that way.

Yet.

Brief bit of backstory before I connect the dots here.

Between my colleague Jessica Hill and myself, we have more than 20 collective years working at or with film commissions. Jessica’s experience is as founder and executive director of the Ft. Worth Film Office for nearly 13 years. And I spent 10 years as a San Francisco Film Commission, 8 of them as vice president of the organization.

And in addition, both of us have tons of experience marketing places as tourism destinations – Jessica as marketing lead at Visit Ft Worth and now as VP of Destination Strategy at KH+Madden, and me with 4 ½ years running marketing at San Francisco Travel, plus 20+ years marketing destinations such as states of Oregon and Idaho, plus places like Aspen, Portland Maine, Seattle, and many more in my role as SVP of Brand Strategy at KH+Madden.

We got chops, as they say.

And we’re bringing those chops to film commissions, to support them and elevate their efforts in attracting films to their destinations.

Why do they need our help? Well, in our respective and collective experience working with film commissions, we’ve realized that the people in the role are in fact in many cases experts with deep experience in production, in location scouting – they are experts at knowing what a production needs and how to make it happen. They’re exactly what most studios need when a decision is made to film in a particular place.

What few are experts in, however, is marketing. Not just knowing how to make a story come to life in a particular place, but in knowing when, how, where and to whom to tell the story. Knowing how to motivate and influence a target audience. Knowing how to determine allocation and application of limited resources to create meaningful and measurable action.

Knowing how to enlist a community to be a vocal advocate and champion.

Over the last several years, marketing has become more sophisticated and more complex, and in order to realize the investment cities and states are making, it often requires hiring an external expert to ensure that you’re getting the value of any investment you make – and also reaching “hard-to-reach” people that are influential in making decisions about production locations.

And that’s where KH+Madden comes in. In the last 6 months, we’ve…
Been selected as one of the New Jersey Film Office’s “select agencies” for a wide variety of projects – current project includes a full social media audit across all current platforms, evaluation of competitive film office sites, as well as recommendations on potential improvements
Built a long-range strategic plan for the Houston Film Office, preparing them to aggressively pursue and prepare for productions via full complement of strategies and tactics including PR and content development
Completely re-built the location library for Film Santa Monica, making it more accessible, easier to use, and easier for filmmakers to find the right locations in the destination, plus developing a “movie poster” and video to promote SM as a film destination
Forged a partnership with AFCI (Association of Film Commissioners International) to provide their members with a list of our services and packages, and made them available at a discounted rate.

Each of the Film Commissions mentioned above are stepping actively and excitedly into their role as destination marketing organizations, re-thinking and expanding their remit to include efforts that will help drive productions – and the resultant economic benefit – to their destinations.

If you’re ready to do the same, or even just talk about how to get started, we’re here to help. Check out our website (link) to see more of what we can do and are doing on behalf of these clients and more.

Because the elephant, it turns out, is bigger than any of us standing next to it can see alone. Film commissions have been quietly holding one leg of it all along — we’re just finally giving them credit for it.

So yes, this was about a different kind of O after all. Turns out it’s been marketing your destination the whole time — it just needed someone to say so out loud.