Schedule

Canadian traveler behavior is evolving, and so is Brand USA's approach. This session unpacks the latest research and consumer insights from one of the United States' most important markets and introduces a laser-targeted strategy designed to rebuild momentum. Brand USA will also share opportunities where partners can plug into this effort and amplify their reach in the market.

In a world overflowing with AI generated information, trusted storytelling has never mattered more. Join us for an inspiring, hands on session with Smithsonian—America’s storyteller—to uncover how authoritative content can elevate your digital campaigns and spark deeper audience engagement.Whether you’re navigating tight budgets or striving to stand out in a crowded landscape, you’ll leave with actionable strategies, fresh ideas, and Smithsonian backed insights to strengthen your brand’s narrative.Following the success of our 250 Places to Celebrate America partnership, we’re offering an exclusive preview of Smithsonian’s new initiative for 2027—Hidden Natural Wonders, and concrete guidance on how to use this idea to amplify your destination’s visibility and impact.

As resident sentiment, public scrutiny and political pressure continue to grow, destination organizations can no longer afford to engage communities only during moments of controversy or crisis. Building long-term trust now requires intentional storytelling, stronger local relationships and a clearer connection between tourism and community value.This peer-to-peer roundtable will explore how destination leaders are building resident support over time through local media engagement, civic pride initiatives, internal communications and community-centered strategies — before they need public buy-in most.

As destination marketers, the macro-forces shaping the travel landscape dictate the ceiling for local economic success. Yet, advocating for travel has never been more complex, sparking intense industry curiosity—and some consternation—around how we advance our priorities in a highly polarized political environment. 

The session will begin with a talk from U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman, offering a candid assessment of the current state of the travel industry, the policy landscape, and the opportunities and challenges ahead. 

Following Geoff’s remarks, he will join Julie Coker, President & CEO of New York City Tourism + Conventions, for an unvarnished, moderated conversation and audience Q&A. Together, they will pull back the curtain on U.S. Travel’s advocacy strategy, dissect the realities of managing diverse stakeholders, and address the tough questions surrounding how the industry must collectively mobilize to protect and grow travel’s economic impact while navigating today’s political headwinds.

Sports tourism has traditionally been measured in room nights and economic impact. But forward-thinking destinations are recognizing something even more powerful: sports events are storytelling platforms.
From creator partnerships and user-generated content to earned media and community pride, sports events can fuel authentic stories that live far beyond the final whistle. This session will explore how destinations are breaking down silos between sports, marketing, and communications teams; maximizing the value of events already on the calendar; and turning a single event into months of content, engagement, and visibility.

Convention center transformations represent once-in-a-generation opportunities for destinations. When managed strategically, they are more than capital projects—they become platforms to elevate a destination’s brand, attract meetings, business, and engage national media. This panel session with Visit Austin, Visit Cincy, and Visit Milwaukee will explore how destinations and agency partners harness PR to maximize visibility and reposition their cities during and after convention center transformations.Renovating or expanding a convention center is a complex, multi-year endeavor. But beyond the hard hats and construction fences lies a powerful PR opportunity: the chance to tell a story of innovation, resilience, and citywide growth.

How do you evolve a legacy brand without losing what makes it iconic—especially when multiple destinations are involved? Using Route 66 as a case study, this session goes beyond campaign execution to explore how Oklahoma is navigating the complexity of modernizing a historic brand across state, city, and smaller destination partners. From aligning 11 smaller destinations around a shared vision (“The 100 Greatest Miles”) to balancing local priorities with statewide strategy, we’ll unpack the real challenges behind collaboration, brand consistency, and decision-making.

This is an invitation only meeting.

This live, roundtable-style session brings the popular CMO Jam format to the ESTO stage. We'll tackle the most urgent challenges facing today’s tourism CMOs—sourced directly from the audience in advance and during the session. Expect candid conversation, tactical insight, and real-world examples. Attendees will walk away with peer-driven solutions, scalable strategies, and a pulse on what’s working across all destination sizes.

In a follow-up to last year's popular session, Amir Eylon will return to the stage and seed the conversation with some timely leisure travel insights and travel trends facing DMO's and challenge the audience to discuss how they have been, are, or can apply these insights into their marketing efforts!

When a destination’s narrative shifts—whether due to a wildfire, a sudden political controversy, or a blow to its public reputation—the first 24 hours are the most critical. In this high-stakes session, leaders from Chicago and Santa Monica pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to move from "crisis mode" to "community-first" action in less than half a day.We’ll explore how Chicago launched a massive brand platform in under 12 hours and how Santa Monica balanced resident safety with global destination reputation during a regional emergency. We will discuss the evolution of the PR mandate: the shift from defensive statements to a "trust-first" model that activates residents and partners as primary narrators.. Attendees will leave with a readiness playbook designed to build stakeholder trust, maintain transparency, and turn urgent disruptions into enduring platforms for recovery.

Most travel is driven by an invitation, not advertising. Before a visitor ever steps foot in your destination, your residents have already set the tone. If local perception lags behind reality, your biggest marketing asset—the community—remains untapped. This session explores how Philadelphia and Buffalo moved beyond traditional tourism ads to build "place brands" from the inside out.Using Philadelphia’s "sports-fandom" strategy as a blueprint, we’ll hear how to treat a city like a team to unlock genuine resident advocacy. Then, we’ll dive into the tactical execution from Buffalo’s rebrand, showing how to secure community buy-in through high-visibility, locally rooted activations—from ice sculptures and murals to transit wraps and temporary tattoos. Learn how to transform your residents from skeptics into a mobilized force of brand ambassadors who invite, energize, and advocate for your destination.

If your community is asking, “Why are we doing another tourism plan?” or “Is this just going to collect dust?”, then it’s time to reset the conversation. Creating the plan matters, but implementation is what actually drives change. This roundtable session is infused with a panel to help participants focus on how to move beyond the document and use the strategic plan as a practical, everyday tool to align partners, guide decisions and actually get s**t done.

Destinations face pressure to justify tourism funding but rely on outdated metrics that miss full community value. The Arizona Office of Tourism shares real-world experience transforming impact into data stories that win support from boards, officials, and residents. Attendees will co-create communication plans for scenarios like overtourism, resident sentiment, or political headwinds—leaving with actionable frameworks to implement immediately in their own communities.

Destination marketing is evolving rapidly — but many organizations are still investing time, budget and energy into tactics, channels and reporting practices that no longer drive meaningful value. As traveler behavior, technology and stakeholder expectations continue to shift, destination leaders are being forced to make harder decisions about where to focus, what to prioritize and what to leave behind.This peer-to-peer roundtable will bring destination leaders together for a candid discussion on the strategies, metrics and legacy practices that may no longer serve the industry. From outdated reporting habits and overused marketing tactics to channels losing effectiveness and investments that no longer differentiate destinations, attendees will openly discuss what they are rethinking, reducing or walking away from entirely.

The most difficult "sale" a DMO leader makes isn't to a traveler—it’s to a skeptical resident, a local reporter, or a state legislator. As destinations face rising scrutiny over "quality of life" and budget priorities, PR is no longer just an external marketing tool; it is a critical function of Government Affairs and Community Relations.
This high-level roundtable is designed for senior leaders to move past the "basics" of tourism awareness and dive into the mechanics of Internal Advocacy. After a brief framing of current regional shifts, facilitators will guide an in-depth peer-to-peer exchange on how DMOs are successfully "marketing to the home crowd." We’ll discuss the tactical realities of using earned media to drive in-state visitation while simultaneously building the political capital required to protect funding and community trust. Come prepared to share what’s working, what’s failing, and how you are proving your destination's value to the people who live there.