34: Are RFPs Ruining Destination Marketing?

Welcome back to Destination Discourse! In this episode, Stuart Butler (Visit Myrtle Beach) and Adam Stoker (Brand not The Brand Revolt) tackle one of the most frustrating and broken systems in destination marketing: RFPs.

Are they fair? Are they functional? Or are they just outdated relics doing more harm than good?

With Stuart bringing the DMO perspective and Adam representing the vendor side, this conversation dives deep into the dysfunction of the traditional procurement process. We explore everything from recycled RFP templates and misaligned scoring systems to the misuse of AI-generated proposals and the ethics of spec work.

But it’s not just a vent session—we share practical solutions:
 • How to restructure the scoring system to reflect real expertise
 • Why DMO-vendor “dating” before contracting might be the future
 • What a truly vision-based RFP could look like
 • How AI is reshaping the cost, ethics, and strategy behind video content and UGC
 • And why your lead presenter better be the one actually working on the account

Plus, we dig into Google’s Veo 3 AI video tool and whether fake influencers and AI-generated UGC have a future in destination marketing, or if they cross a line.

Subscribe, comment, and join the conversation. Let’s fix this thing together.