I walked into the Destinations International Annual Convention and Visitor Services Summit in Portland last week, expecting good sessions and better coffee. I left with something more useful: a clearer sense of where visitor services and destination marketing are actually headed, and a stack of ideas I'm already itching to try back home.

Community isn't a talking point anymore — it's the strategy

The thread running through nearly every session I attended was this: destinations that are winning right now are the ones that stopped treating residents as a side audience. Whether it was the story of a visitor center transforming into a full-blown community gathering space, or a case study on a destination brand that rebuilt itself around the voices of locals rather than traditional ad messaging, the message was consistent. Your community isn't just your visitor base's backdrop — they're co-authors of your destination's story, and the organizations getting real traction are the ones building with residents, not just for them.

Staffing and "people-first" culture are the real infrastructure

I didn't expect a staffing session to be one of the most energizing of the summit, but it was. Visitor services teams are the human face of a destination, and the panel on solving staffing challenges was blunt about how hard that's gotten — seasonal gaps, volunteer retention, training, evolving visitor expectations. The takeaway I keep coming back to: the "welcome" a visitor feels is only as strong as the culture behind the counter. A closing session tied this together well, reframing visitor services not as a series of transactions but as a daily practice of making people feel seen, whether they're first-time tourists or lifelong residents.

AI showed up everywhere, but the framing has matured

A year ago, AI sessions at conferences like this felt like novelty demos. This year felt different. There was real, practical discussion of how AI tools are already reshaping how travelers find destinations in the first place — search is turning into answers, and organizations that don't understand how AI platforms are representing them are already behind. On the visitor services side, there was a genuinely useful live session where attendees brought real staffing, training, and engagement problems to the stage and watched an AI practitioner work through solutions in real time. It stripped away a lot of the hype and got straight to utility.

Trust is the new currency for DMO leadership

Several sessions leaned into something I don't think gets said out loud enough at industry events: destination organizations are operating under more scrutiny than ever, and silence is no longer a safe strategy. The conversations on leading through political headwinds and rebuilding institutional credibility after a crisis both landed on the same point — visibility and proactive communication are now core leadership skills, not risks to be managed. That reframing feels overdue.

Make the data mean something to someone outside the industry

One of the most quietly practical sessions I sat in on was built around a simple test: if a local schoolteacher can't understand your destination's economic impact numbers, you haven't finished telling your story. It's a small idea with big implications for how we build dashboards, write annual reports, and talk to city councils. Data doesn't build trust — translated data does.

Creativity still beats budget

Between the panel on scrappy, high-impact visitor experiences and the showcase of local makers running pop-up shops right in the middle of the conference hub, the reminder was clear: some of the most memorable travel moments come from creativity and intentionality, not big spend. It's easy to say, and harder to actually build a program around, but the examples on stage made it feel achievable.

Bringing it home

If I had to boil DI 2026 down to one idea, it's this: the destinations that thrive next aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or the flashiest campaigns — they're the ones that treat their communities as partners, their frontline teams as their real brand ambassadors, and their data as a tool for connection rather than just reporting. I'm heading back with a notebook full of ideas and a much better answer to the question I get asked every year after this conference: "So what's actually new this time?"

About the Author and Tourism Speaker: Stephen Ekstrom

Stephen Ekstrom is the embodiment of a passionate lifelong learner and a seasoned professional in the tourism industry, serving as the CEO and founder of Learn Tourism - the nonprofit academy. With over 25 years of experience, he has cultivated a deep understanding of tourism development and education, driven by his commitment to advancing the industry and fostering sustainable economies. Stephen's insatiable curiosity and love of knowledge have made him a proud nerd, constantly seeking to expand his expertise and share his insights with others. Alongside his faithful furry companions, Rudy and Marjorie, he embraces the digital nomad lifestyle, traversing the globe and immersing himself in diverse cultures. A dedicated advocate for continuous improvement, Stephen is a professional member of the Association for Talent Development and a member of Skal International. Stephen holds prestigious certifications in Inclusive and Ethical Leadership from USF, AI Governance and Ethics from Brown University, and Sustainable Business Strategy and Transforming Customer Experiences from Harvard Business School