Destination Discourse
Destination Discourse is the essential podcast for DMOs and travel industry professionals who want to stay ahead in destination marketing, stewardship, and management. Hosted by industry experts Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker, each episode delves into the key issues and trends shaping the future of tourism. From cutting-edge innovations to the complex challenges of destination management, we offer thought-provoking insights, honest debates, and practical takeaways. Part love letter to the industry, part therapy session, and part user manual, Destination Discourse is your trusted source for real talk and expert advice. Join us to explore inspiring campaigns, hear from leading voices, and gain the insights you need to elevate your destination strategies.
Episodes
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler, Adam Stoker, and returning guest Matt Stiker tackle one of the most entertaining—and surprisingly important—questions in destination marketing:
Are DMOs too focused on the “D”… and not enough on the “O”?
Yes, the title is a little clickbaity. Yes, the jokes write themselves. But underneath it is a real conversation about relevance, value, and what DMOs actually exist to d...
What happens when travelers start treating their vacation calendar like a strategy game?
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back Caleb Sullivan for a conversation that starts with podcast banter, Claude productivity talk, and a plug for Caleb’s new podcast, Give Me Some Good News — then quickly turns into a smart discussion about a timely tourism marketing question:
Are destinations ...
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are back for a long-overdue one-on-one conversation, and they waste no time jumping into two big topics that could reshape destination marketing.
First, Stuart shares why he believes AI has reached another watershed moment. He breaks down how his team at Visit Myrtle Beach is using Claude Co-Work not just as a chatbot, but as something much closer to a tru...
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined once again by AI strategist C.A. Clark for a wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence, adoption gaps, and what the technology actually means for the future of work in tourism.
The discussion begins with a look at recent job market data and the growing debate around whether AI is already affecting employment. While the long-term ou...
Destination marketing has a sameness problem, and this episode tackles it head-on.
Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Matt Stiker and Katy Livingston of Madden Media for a conversation about why so much destination advertising feels interchangeable, what “destination gentrification” looks like in practice, and why safe, committee-friendly marketing often leads to forgettable work.
Before diving in, the episode opens wi...
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Alex Husner and Annie Holcombe from the Alex & Annie Podcast for a candid conversation about the evolving relationship between DMOs and the vacation rental industry.
They start with Stu’s News and a timely discussion about Google building agentic AI directly into Chrome, using travel booking as one of the headline examples. That sparks a ...
This episode of Destination Discourse starts in the most on-brand way possible: with Christian Mengel joining live from the Kansas City airport, turning the conversation into a truly mobile edition of the show.
After a quick round of banter and Stu’s News on Apple’s latest promises around Siri, the conversation shifts into a much bigger question for the destination industry: what is the real role of a DMO now?
Christian brings ...
A new (intentionally terrible) Stu’s News jingle makes its debut, January downloads surge, and Jason Holic of Experience Kissimmee shares how his team is stepping into water safety as part of destination stewardship.
This episode moves beyond traditional demand generation and asks a bigger question: What is a DMO actually responsible for?
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What You’ll Hear in This Episode
• A brand-new Stu’s News jingle (British rapper vibe...
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back industry legend Bill Geist for a no-nonsense masterclass on DMO board governance.
The conversation starts with Stu’s News, exploring what OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Health product—and Google pulling back on AI health recommendations—signals about trust, adoption, and the future of AI verticals, including travel.
Then Bill delivers his core thesis: ev...
If you’ve ever felt like your DMO is five different organizations wearing the same logo… this episode will feel very familiar.
Stuart and Adam welcome Danielle Hollander from Visit Orlando for her first appearance on Destination Discourse. After a slightly unhinged (and very “letter M”) opening, the conversation settles into something deeply practical: why DMOs so often feel siloed—and what it actually takes to fix that.
Stu’s ...
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler (Visit Myrtle Beach) and Adam Stoker (Brand Revolt) record live at the South Carolina Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
Instead of a traditional presentation, they brought the podcast format to the stage.
No slides.
No scripted panel.
Just live audience polling and an open conversation about what’s really happening in the tourism industry.
It’s a different environment...
Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker kick off the episode shaking off post-holiday rust with their signature mix of self-awareness, banter, and big-picture thinking. A deliberately terrible German intro, a mistranslated last name, and a few early laughs set the tone before welcoming Eddie Kirsch from Visit St. Pete Clearwater—a guest who sits at the intersection of storytelling, data, and performance.
The conversation opens with Stu’...
It’s the first recording of 2026, and Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker welcome back Emily Zertuche for round three. After a quick (and rusty) start, they dive into a timely question: as agentic AI accelerates, are DMOs’ fragmented data stacks and inconsistent narratives becoming a credibility risk?
Using a Stu’s News example (L’Oréal’s partnership with NVIDIA), the conversation explores how major brands are embedding AI across op...
Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by Amir Eylon (Longwoods International) broadcasting from “Snowmageddon Aftermath” in Ohio to talk about what matters beyond the AI headlines. Yes, they still touch AI, including early chatter about ads inside ChatGPT and what that could mean for destinations. But the heart of the conversation is a 2026 reset: get back to basics, remember why people travel, and build marketing (and sta...
Stuart and Adam open with a quick Miracle Morning check-in (45 days strong) and a reminder that early wins matter before work even starts. In Stu’s News, they unpack Steve Hill’s optimistic comments about Las Vegas tourism despite recent declines, and debate whether bold confidence is leadership or risk.
Then the main event: predictions for 2026 submitted by “the Desties” (plus a few familiar friends of the show). Themes recur...
In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker dig into Adam’s 2026 resolutions for destination marketers. Rather than rehashing Adam’s full resolutions episode from the Destination Marketing Podcast, the conversation pulls out the most important ideas and stress-tests them through debate, real-world examples, and a healthy dose of humor.
The discussion centers on what DMOs can truly control, how relev...
This episode turns into a rapid-fire tour through the DMO reality: what the job actually is, why ROI is so hard to prove, how resident s...
Then the episode pivots hard into the main topic: a true “red pill” conversation about paid media transparency in the destination industry.
Zeek Coleman returns with a...
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