The latest estimates indicate that the new Administration's rhetoric has so incensed potential foreign visitors that American businesses are set to forfeit up to $29 billion in lost tourism sales this year.

A lot of Destination Leadership Organizations produce videos to explain and reinforce the vital role they play in their communities. The latest "movie trailer" from Visit Dublin Ohio is masterful, mixing an over-the-top voice over and a superhero vibe that features the staff around town.

In the end, at a time when international travel to the United States is cratering, the Senate votes to slash international tourism marketing. Simply unfathomable...because they are forfeiting billions of non-resident tax dollars in the name of reducing the deficit.

As I read the online account of how the Newport OR City Council agonized over the decision to yank the contract for Destination Marketing from their Chamber and award it to an out-of-town ad agency, I couldn't help but remember that great ad from esurance about unfriending people on Facebook.

Author and international raconteur Rick Antonson is one of our favorite people. The former CEO of Tourism Vancouver and Chair of Destinations International, he understands the world of Destination Marketing like few others.

This is gonna be one hell of a great summer for America's lesser-traveled destinations. And that means visitor levels never before seen in many of our communities. But, how will your residents feel about it? 

In a moment of seeming clarity, the President announced a couple weeks ago that deportation efforts would no longer target hospitality and farm workers. That didn’t last long.

Sine Die. It means to adjourn with no plan to reconvene. And, that's what it says today on the webpage of the Florida State Senate. So, Florida’s DMOs are safe…for now.

It was Mike Tyson who famously said, "everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face." And, I get that the President had a plan to deal with undocumented residents of this country...he just hadn't thought it through very well.

Oh yes...let's try something new (despite the fact that the current approach is producing great results).

In those early years, as with most of us starting out in consulting, there was the need to supplement a slow-to-establish client base with some side hustles.

The work we did for the Quad Cities in 2007 to develop a Vision Plan for the community was one of those moments…

So…I begin my path in destination consulting, believing I could do it better …

Understanding the concept of working for yourself instead of a big company.

It was Mayor Paul Soglin who brought the idea of Monona Terrace back to public consciousness.

I was summoned to a meeting with two individuals that I knew held some prominence in the community.

We have clearly moved from an era of good governance.

Coming off the best year the DMO had ever had, my Board offered me a 0.0% raise.

Is it better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt?

I may have understood marketing… but I clearly didn't understand destination marketing.