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About the Immersion: What if a cocktail could tell the story of your destination? In this interactive and flavorful session, discover how Visit Phoenix turned local ingredients into a powerful branding tool with The Phoenix, the city’s official signature cocktail.    

Learn how tourism leaders, mixologists, and community partners collaborated to craft a drink that captures the city’s spirit—literally—and how it now serves as a tool for storytelling and visitor engagement.    

Enjoy a tasting of The Phoenix cocktail, get behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process, and take part in a hands-on exercise to uncover how your destination’s natural flavors, cultural roots, and signature vibes can be transformed into meaningful, marketable experiences that travel far and wide.    

Check-in: 9:45 a.m. – 9:55 a.m. at the Kembara restaurant at the JW Desert Ridge

Limit to 32 participants. Hosted by Visit Phoenix and JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge

Questions? Please contact [email protected].

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Pre-Registration Required

About the Immersion: What if a cocktail could tell the story of your destination? In this interactive and flavorful session, discover how Visit Phoenix turned local ingredients into a powerful branding tool with The Phoenix, the city’s official signature cocktail.     

Learn how tourism leaders, mixologists, and community partners collaborated to craft a drink that captures the city’s spirit—literally—and how it now serves as a tool for storytelling and visitor engagement.   

Enjoy a tasting of The Phoenix cocktail, get behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process, and take part in a hands-on exercise to uncover how your destination’s natural flavors, cultural roots, and signature vibes can be transformed into meaningful, marketable experiences that travel far and wide.     

Limit to 32 participants. Hosted by Visit Phoenix and JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge

Questions? Please contact [email protected].

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Pre-Registration Required

Start your ESTO 2025 experience with confidence and connection New to ESTO or attending solo? Or maybe it’s been a while, and you’d like a quick refresher? Join us for a dynamic pre-conference welcome session designed to set you up for success. You’ll get the inside scoop on what to expect throughout the event, explore a variety of session formats, and discover can’t-miss networking opportunities. Connect with fellow first-time attendees, gain valuable tips from seasoned ESTO veterans, and start building your ESTO community from the very beginning. We can’t wait to welcome you!

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Pause, unwind, and recharge in the Wellness Lounge—your personal reset zone amidst the conference buzz. Sponsored by Simpleview, a Granicus Company, drop in for a complimentary chair massage from licensed therapists and take a few minutes to relax, reset your mind, and release tension. No sessions, no signup—just real relief, right when you need it. Because great ideas start with a clear head.

Most people use AI as a communications assistant. In this AI Playground session, you’ll learn how to turn it into a strategic growth partner. We’ll explore four high-impact ways to leverage AI for deeper CRM intelligence, sharper market positioning, a destination narrative that resonates, and prospecting strategies driven by real-time context. You’ll leave with a framework for prompting that turns raw data into sales intelligence you can act on, and a sharper edge in every market you compete in.

Get inspired in just 15 minutes! Join us in the AI Playground for quick, high-impact demos showing how AI can spark ideas, solve problems, and supercharge your work. See real-world examples in action, ask questions, and leave with practical tips you can use right away.

Pre-Registration Required

Creating meaningful travel experiences starts with meaningful relationships. This roundtable session brings together industry leaders to share how tourism professionals can engage with indigenous communities through collaboration, cultural sensitivity and long-term respect. Whether you represent a DMO, tour company or hospitality brand, you’ll gain insights into building partnerships that honor heritage, uplift communities and lead to more responsible tourism practices.

To foster more focused, meaningful conversation, registration is capped at 60 participants.

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Pre-Registration Required

Your destination’s story is only as strong as the strategy behind it. Join peers to explore how today’s PR and communications practices are shifting and what it means for storytelling in the travel industry. Share wins, talk through roadblocks and gather ideas around media outreach, brand alignment and community narratives that truly resonate.

To foster more focused, meaningful conversation, registration is capped at 60 participants.

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Pre-Registration Required

The stories we tell—and how we tell them—can make or break how travelers engage with a destination. Designed for States, this roundtable offers space to share lessons learned, swap strategies and talk candidly about the wins and challenges of modern PR. From media partnerships and press trips to messaging during moments of crisis, come ready to explore what’s resonating and what’s not.

To foster more focused, meaningful conversation, registration is capped at 60 participants.

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Pre-Registration Required

Welcome Centers will remain a powerful entry point for destinations if they evolve with the times. Join this interactive session to hear new research from Tennessee’s recent visitor profile survey and explore how data is shaping the future of Welcome Center strategy. Through open discussion, you’ll exchange ideas with peers and identify practical ways to align your center’s offerings with the evolving needs of today’s travelers.

To foster more focused, meaningful conversation, registration is capped at 60 participants.

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.