Program Schedule

Destination Services

Stop by for some giveaways, courtesy of Visit Phoenix and Visit Arizona.

Pre-registration required

Since 2015, ESTO Cares has brought attendees together in a spirit of compassion and connection to give back to the local community. In honor of its 10th year, we’re teaming up with Valley of the Sun United Way to support Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central & Northern Arizona by assembling travel-themed care packages that bring comfort and encouragement to families in need. 

Join us Sunday morning from 8:30–10:00 a.m. for a hands-on volunteer event that sets the tone for a purposeful ESTO. 

Coffee and donuts will be available at 7:30 a.m., and registration opens at 7:45 a.m.

Registration opens at 7:45 a.m. If you can’t attend in person, you can still make an impact by donating through the "Friends of ESTO” ticket option. Advance RSVP required.

Pre-Registration Required

About the Immersion: Immerse yourself into the breathtaking landscapes of the Lower Salt River for an experience that blends adventure with impact. This one-of-a-kind journey through the stunning Sonoran Desert waterways combines outdoor recreation with hands-on environmental stewardship.  

Start your morning with a guided paddle along the Salt River, gliding past towering, saguaro-studded cliffs — you may even spot the famous wild horses that roam the area! While taking in the natural beauty, attendees will also take part in a cleanup effort alongside local sustainability advocates.  

By integrating environmental, social, and economic sustainability into your tourism strategy, you’ll gain insight into how your destination can grow their visitor economy while leading the way in preserving its unique ecosystems and promoting sustainable travel.    

Check-in: 8:00 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. at the JW Desert Ridge lower level Convention Center 

Buses will load at 8:15 a.m. and depart at 8:30 a.m.

Limited to 100 participants. Hosted by Visit Mesa

Questions? Please contact [email protected].

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Put your skills to the test at the Cadent Claw Machine—where machine precision meets human finesse—for a chance to win an Amazon gift card. Prefer to leave it to luck? Enter our raffle to win a pair of Meta glasses.

While you're there, connect with the Cadent team to learn how we're redefining standards in travel & tourism advertising. We look forward to seeing you!

Visit our Genius Bar to chat with featured AI experts, our featured "geniuses", ready to answer your questions, share tips, and guide you through all things AI.

Table 1

Greg Oates

Director of AI Advocacy

Matador Network

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Playground at U.S. Travel’s ESTO 2025 will equip destination marketers with the knowledge, confidence, and tools to embrace AI as a transformative force in travel marketing and destination promotion. This interactive activation space will blend education, hands-on exploration, and real-world applications to help DMOs understand how AI works—and more importantly, how they can leverage it to elevate their strategies and drive impact for their destinations.  

Step into the Phoenix Pop-Up Shop Experience and discover the vibrant spirit of the city through its local makers and artisans. Browse a curated selection of products from talented Phoenix vendors—featuring everything from handcrafted goods to locally inspired treats. It’s the perfect chance to take home a unique piece of Phoenix while supporting the businesses that make our community thrive.

Chilttepica Products

Family-owned Chilttepica brings the bold, smoky heat of the legendary chiltepin—the ‘mother of all chiles’—to every season.

Visit Phoenix Pop-Up Shop

Snag desert-inspired apparel, gifts, and goodies to zhuzh up your style and show off your Sonoran Desert adventure.

Learn more.

Pre-Registration Required

About the Immersion: The internationally acclaimed Heard Museum in central Phoenix is one of the best places to experience the myriad cultures and art of the Indigenous peoples of the Southwest.  Join us for an unforgettable journey through this world – renowned museum, home to a collection of nearly 2,000 treasures and masterpieces. This guided experience will showcase how the Heard Museum weaves history and contemporary Indigenous expressions to educate visitors on the 22 Native tribes of Arizona.  

Through this immersive tour, you’ll gain insights into how destinations can blend past and present storytelling to foster deeper connections and drive visitor engagement. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage, learn, and be inspired! 

Check-in: 9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. at the JW Desert Ridge lower level Convention Center

Buses will load at 9:15 a.m. and depart at 9:30 a.m.

Limited to 50 participants. Hosted by Visit Phoenix

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.    

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.

Pre-Registration Required

Behind every strong strategy is a solid foundation of data and insight. This roundtable, led by U.S. Travel’s Joshua Friedlander, invites tourism professionals to dig into the role of research in guiding destination growth. From identifying traveler trends to informing big-picture planning, explore how smart data leads to better decisions and stronger outcomes.

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

Advance RSVP required through your personalized schedule.

Sign Up Here.

Look Sharp. Be You. Refresh Your Headshot!

Make a lasting impression, both online and in person. Stop by the headshot lounge at the top of the escalators during ESTO to receive a complimentary professional headshot, courtesy of Travelzoo.

Whether you are updating your LinkedIn profile, refreshing your company bio, or simply looking for a high-quality, professional photo, our onsite photographer will help you look your best while capturing your authenticity.

It’s quick, seamless, and a great reason to learn more about how Travelzoo supports professionals like you.

Get ready for fast, focused insights in the Solutions Hub—a series of rapid-fire, 15-minute presentations built to deliver real solutions to real challenges. 

Adara: The Intersection of TV Viewership & Travel Intent

Visit Milwaukee wanted to measure actual visitation from hosting a major TV show and Visit Indy wanted to maximize the Caitlin Clark effect. Adara helped them both by combining the power of travel data and TV viewership. Join us as we dive into measurement surrounding Top Chef being filmed in Milwaukee in 2024, including top origin markets for those who watched the show, and Indy’s latest marketing efforts to WNBA game watchers. Bonus: Find out how these approaches can help destinations leverage the Mega Decade of Sports, too!

Expedia: More than a Game: How Sports Travel is Creating New Opportunities for Destinations

Sports tourism now accounts for 10% of global tourism spend – and that figure is expected to grow exponentially. From FIFA Club World Cup to F1 racing, and a whole host of other major tournaments happening in the coming months, tourism players are primed to generate greater value and revenue opportunities. This session dives into how sports fans – especially Gen Z and millennial travelers – are reshaping demand patterns, loyalty behaviors and destination choices.  We’ll highlight how destinations can move beyond traditional travel marketing strategies to reach high-value travelers through targeted advertising and engaging content that captures sports-mad fans. Drawing from Expedia Group’s latest global research, we’ll share actionable insights and how to leverage Expedia Group’s travel media network to create end-to-end campaigns that reach travelers wherever they are, whatever the game.   

SPIRRA.io: Beyond Demographics: Using Influencer Intelligence to Discover Your Hidden High-Value Visitors

Most DMOs rely on traditional broad demographic data that miss emerging and high-value segments. This talk reveals how analyzing influencer audiences provides real-time insights into who actually wants to visit your destination. Using SPIRRA's AI-powered audience intelligence, we'll show how destinations can discover unexpected visitor segments—like "outdoor wellness travelers" or "cultural food explorers"—by examining the followers of relevant influencers. Attendees will learn to use influencer data as a discovery tool for audience insights, identify which content themes attract longer-staying/higher-spending visitors, and uncover niche markets that competitors are missing. Case studies will demonstrate how destinations found their most profitable visitor segments hidden in plain sight within influencer communities.

Tiki: From Monologue to Dialogue - The AI-Powered Future of Destination Advertising

Traveler expectations are shifting—from passive inspiration to active, real-time engagement. This session explores how AI is transforming destination advertising from static messages into dynamic conversations. Learn how DMOs can harness conversational media to guide, inform, and inspire visitors at every stage of the journey.

Tripadvisor: Tripadvisor Trendcast 2025

The future of travel just landed.  We dug deep into millions of reviews, bookings, and convos on Tripadvisor to uncover the micro-trends and massive cultural swings that are rewriting the ways we go.  Our first-ever Trendcast captures it all—it’s the ultimate pulse check on where travelers are now and what’ll be driving them forward for years to come.

Ellen Davis sets the tone with a powerful snapshot of where the industry stands. This fast-paced, high-impact address covers major industry trends, policy priorities, and key forces reshaping the travel landscape, providing strategic grounding for the conversations to follow.