Ep 25 Insights from the 2025 Destinations International Conference - Chicago
This episode delves into the recent Destinations International conference held in Chicago, a pivotal gathering for destination marketers. We, your hosts, Larry Aldrich and Maddie Dudley, reflect on the significance of this event as an educational platform that fosters connections among professionals dedicated to enhancing tourism and local economies. Throughout the discussion, we share our insights into the various sessions and networking opportunities that underscored the importance of human connections in marketing, particularly in an era increasingly dominated by technology. The episode further highlights the innovative strategies discussed, such as incorporating indigenous voices into destination marketing, thereby enriching the narrative of local communities. Join us as we explore these profound insights and their implications for the future of destination marketing.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Chapters:
- 00:07 - Introduction to Aqua Talks
- 01:10 - Exploring Destinations International
- 10:18 - Destination Marketing Insights and Networking Experiences
- 12:48 - The Culinary Adventure at Alinea
- 18:41 - Transitioning to Conferences and Business Events
- 19:08 - Conferences and Destinations: A New Chapter in Marketing
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- In this episode, we discussed the pivotal role of Destinations International in enhancing tourism by fostering connections within communities.
- The convention provided invaluable insights on how destination marketers can utilize data to enhance their marketing strategies and drive economic growth.
- We highlighted the significance of inclusivity in marketing, particularly by incorporating indigenous voices to enrich the storytelling of destinations.
- Our experience at the conference underscored the importance of human connections in marketing, especially during tumultuous times in the industry.
- We explored innovative strategies presented at the event, including partnerships with aviation authorities to promote travel destinations effectively.
- The podcast emphasized the ongoing need for destination marketers to adapt and evolve amidst advancements in technology and shifting consumer preferences.
Transcript
Welcome to Aqua Talks, where marketing meets bold game changing ideas.
Speaker A:Join your hosts, Larry Aldrich and Maddie Dudley as they explore the art and science of cutting through the noise, capturing attention and fostering meaningful connections with your audience.
Speaker A:Whether you're a destination marketer, government contractor, or simply passionate about the transformative power of marketing, Aqua Talks offers engaging discussions, fresh insights and actionable strategies designed to inspire and inform.
Speaker B:Hello and welcome back to Aqua Talks, a podcast for marketers.
Speaker B:Whether you're just getting started or if you're a pro in the industry.
Speaker B:My name is Maddie.
Speaker B:I am the PR Director of Aqua Marketing Communications.
Speaker B:This is a podcast brought to you by brensysteknow Technology.
Speaker B:I'm joined by my co host, Larry Aldrich.
Speaker C:Hello, I'm Larry Aldrich, President CEO of Aqua Marketing and Communications and Brancys Technology llc.
Speaker C:Today we're going to talk a little bit about Destinations International.
Speaker C:We like to from time to time go and have conversations about some of the conferences and the events that we attend.
Speaker C:And our latest event was Destination International in Chicago, which happened to be your first di.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker C:What did you think about it?
Speaker C:How was your, how was your event?
Speaker B:So I think first, just for listeners who don't know what DI is, I kind of want to get into details of the organization as well as, because it's a learning process for me as someone whose first time it was.
Speaker B:So their motto is that they believe destination organizations positively impact local communities as a dynamic place to visit, live and work as such.
Speaker B:Destinations International, the global association for Destination professional Professionals, elevates tourism by educating, equipping, empowering and connecting its members to better fulfill their missions and achieve positive results around the world.
Speaker B:So they have like a membership program that I learned and that a lot of people who are attending were members.
Speaker B:And it's an educational opportunity as well for people within the destination marketing realm to go and perfect their craft a little bit more.
Speaker B:So there were a lot of sessions.
Speaker B:Networking.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Let's take it a step further.
Speaker C:Destination International is, we could say, a premier event for destination marketing where the DMOs show up, a lot of the vendors, a lot of the IT companies that work with the destinations, a lot of marketing companies, marketing consultants that work with the destination organizations, and the airport organizations show up.
Speaker C:It's a pretty, it's a great event.
Speaker C:It was my second destination.
Speaker C:So you have Destinations International, which covers worldwide destinations.
Speaker C:And we are a member of Destination Florida, which is a smaller organization that focuses on the destinations in the state of Florida.
Speaker C:We are a proud member and sponsor of Florida Destinations.
Speaker C:But today we're talking about the Destinations International, the Bigger Picture, which was held in Chicago, a beautiful city.
Speaker C:The convention center was very large.
Speaker C:There were a lot of organizations there.
Speaker C:Some of our clients were there.
Speaker C:We spent a lot of time having conversations with some of our current clients that we help market their organizations.
Speaker C:And we've met some really great, good IT companies.
Speaker C:Let's just say some data companies that we were doing some work with.
Speaker C:So it was a great event.
Speaker C:So now let's dive back into that first question, now that we gave a little bit of a good example of what Destination International is.
Speaker C:So what were your thoughts on your first di?
Speaker B:I mean, I'm not just saying this because you're my boss and because I have to, but I actually had a really great time.
Speaker B:It was wonderful.
Speaker B:And Chicago is really beautiful, especially during the summer.
Speaker B:I've never been to Chicago during the winter, so I only know Chicago Falls and summers, luckily, can't do the cold like that.
Speaker B:But it was so wonderful.
Speaker B:Just the networking and the educational sessions.
Speaker B:There were topics on things that I really did not ever think of before.
Speaker B:And then there were things that were really relevant to things we're working on.
Speaker B:So, like, one session was how to best partner with your aviation authority, and it was Chicago's destination team and then their aviation authority, and it showed us examples of how they best partner to promote the destination.
Speaker B:Because the airport is the first place that you start your trip and where you end your trip.
Speaker B:So it's really important that there's this collaborative partnership between the two.
Speaker B:And, you know, we work with a bunch of airports.
Speaker B:I don't know if listeners or watchers know, but we work with a lot of different airports.
Speaker B:So it was really cool to just picked their brains.
Speaker B:And I pulled them aside afterwards for a Q and A.
Speaker B:And that was fun.
Speaker B:Visit Ireland was one as well.
Speaker B:That was really fascinating.
Speaker B:I learned a fun fact about how they're utilizing bogs.
Speaker B:Now to.
Speaker B:I'm gonna make this sound very.
Speaker B:In layman's terms, but they're using those bogs to offset carbon emissions.
Speaker B:Cause they used to have a bunch of carbon emissions, but now these bogs are offsetting them in hopes to boost tourism as well and put that money towards developing their tourist opportunities and things that people can see and visit.
Speaker B:Yeah, I could go on forever.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's.
Speaker C:There's a lot to talk about.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And the directions that we can go.
Speaker C:I want to go to the fun.
Speaker C:But let's still talk about the work first before we go into the fun.
Speaker C:And we did have a lot of fun.
Speaker C:They were.
Speaker C:Chicago was a great host and we had a great time.
Speaker C:There was a lot to do in the city.
Speaker C:Again, let's hold back on that for a little bit.
Speaker C:The seminars, as we go into the seminars, and I know it was, or should we say learning sessions.
Speaker C:So a lot of it, we were sitting and getting a lot of great information about how to help market destinations and how destinations can market to their potential visitors.
Speaker C:And there were a lot of good information about.
Speaker C:I mean, again, going to that buzzword about AI talking about different things that we've talked about on the show, like different types of destination when it comes to.
Speaker C:We had a sleep, travel, food travel.
Speaker C:All of that stuff is covered in di.
Speaker C:And a lot of different things that we didn't even talk about yet.
Speaker C:And I think we've talked about quite a bit and we continue to talk about.
Speaker C:But every summit or like the Etourism summit, every convention like Destination International or again, Florida destinations, we can go to small business getting out of destination a little bit, going into small business conferences.
Speaker C:All of these conferences, seminars, trade shows, they all bring something different, something unique, something special.
Speaker C:And in these seminars, they're all have breakout sessions where learning sessions or sessions to get to be a little more intimate with the destinations or a little bit more intimate with the different vendors that might be there or data organizations that might be there.
Speaker C:And I keep saying data organizations because that's big in this industry, especially when these.
Speaker C:The destinations that we work with, that data helps them know where to put their marketing dollars, where to put their focus.
Speaker C:When I say data, it can be the amount of people that are filling their hotels in a certain part of their destination or what are people interested in, what do people spend a lot of time doing, what kind of restaurants?
Speaker C:How is this affecting the small businesses around our destination?
Speaker C:The economic impact?
Speaker C:All of this data goes in to help the destinations market their destinations and their localities and the marketing companies such as us to be able to use that data to help foster better economic growth in those areas.
Speaker C:We don't just help the destinations, we help the small businesses that are around those destinations also.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:It's the community as a whole.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So a lot of that information, a lot of those learning sessions are ways that we take into thought when we go and build our marketing plans or we build our strategic plans to help these destinations.
Speaker C:So with all that said, yeah, we.
Speaker B:Just had Joseph St. Germain on a couple of episodes ago who shout out to Dallas St. Germain, they help with a lot of that data that we use.
Speaker B:And we did see them at di.
Speaker C:We saw them at di.
Speaker C:And actually he should be on an episode that should be coming up here real soon, actually, the episode we just had.
Speaker C:Because I'm thinking ahead, behind myself, actually.
Speaker C:So by the time we start talking about this a little bit more, you would have already seen Joseph St. Germain.
Speaker C:It's a really good session.
Speaker C:We hope you enjoyed it.
Speaker C:But going further again, back into destinations, I know you've had quite a few meetings.
Speaker C:You've talked to a lot of people.
Speaker C:You met a lot of destinations.
Speaker C:You mentioned Ireland.
Speaker C:Were there any other, let's just say DMOS or destinations that you've got to talk to that you were pretty excited to have conversations with?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, like all of them.
Speaker B:I had a quick conversation on the after party dance floor with Visit Fort Worth because I'm a huge fan.
Speaker B:As I have said in previous episodes, let it be shown on record.
Speaker B:I'm a Billy Bob's fan in Fort Worth.
Speaker B:The world's biggest honky tonk.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:So I of course went up to her and said, hey, I'm going back.
Speaker B:Like, what else should I do while I'm in Fort Worth besides Billy Bobs?
Speaker B:So that was fun.
Speaker B:And then also Visit Kansas City was really cool.
Speaker B:They were just really friendly people, man.
Speaker B:Those, like the group of destination marketers, they can party.
Speaker B:Like, I did not realize at DI they have a band that's formed by some sort of partner.
Speaker B:I don't know the full details, but they had partners up on stage playing guitar, playing drums.
Speaker B:And then they would have people from each destination marketing organization come up and be the guest singer.
Speaker B:And they were all ripping it.
Speaker B:Like it was insane.
Speaker B:Insane.
Speaker B:They were so good.
Speaker C:Yeah, they.
Speaker C:We were.
Speaker C:They hosted a party for us at the House of Blues since we're, we're, you know, sliding a little bit of fun into this conversation early.
Speaker C:But I can't help it.
Speaker B:It was so fun, Larry.
Speaker C:No, it was.
Speaker C:It was a great time.
Speaker C:And the food, again, we always get back to our basic conversation.
Speaker C:When it has to do with destination marketing and it's food.
Speaker C:We always, for some reason, we always go back.
Speaker C:Maybe it's just me.
Speaker C:I always go back to food.
Speaker C:But the House of Blues, they had a really great setup for us.
Speaker C:There was three floors and every floor had like a buffet of food on it.
Speaker C:And it was a different menu on every floor.
Speaker C:The bands were amazing.
Speaker C:The music was amazing.
Speaker C:The atmosphere was amazing.
Speaker C:A House of Blues talking about marketing and destinations and travel and visiting ever in not just Chicago, but any other area where there's a house of blues.
Speaker C:Highly recommend going and spending an evening enjoying some good music, some good bands.
Speaker C:I love live bands.
Speaker C:House of Blues, it was a great.
Speaker C:A great event that we had there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So going back to food.
Speaker B:So I actually checked a food bucket list item off of my list because I was able to go to Di.
Speaker B:So I think I told you about this.
Speaker B:And I just pretended it was my birthday dinner a couple of weeks early, but ended up going to Alinea with my mom, which is a restaurant that I've been wanting to try for, like, decades now because I saw it on chef's table.
Speaker B:And then the chef had this fantastic story about having mouth cancer and then losing his sense of taste and then regaining it back and still being the head chef of the operation there and then opening multiple restaurants.
Speaker B:So that was a really incredible experience.
Speaker B:Honestly, would have probably flown to Chicago just for that experience alone.
Speaker B:So you're right on with foodie travel being really big.
Speaker B:And I'm one of those people.
Speaker B:So my eyes light up every single time I hear you talking about it.
Speaker C:And that goes back to the conversation about local economic development.
Speaker C:We go to events like Destination International.
Speaker C:We go to events or meetings or conferences at different destinations, marketing all of our destinations.
Speaker C:It always impacts the local economy.
Speaker C:In Chicago, we, like.
Speaker C:Maddie was just speaking.
Speaker C:She went out and tried some different foods at different restaurants.
Speaker C:And there were a lot of great restaurants in Chicago.
Speaker C:We can't name them all, but the one place that sticks out to me the most, everywhere I go now, I'm telling people about that evening when you and your mom invited me to go to Second City.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I had a great time there.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:So did we.
Speaker C:It was the first time I've ever experienced anything like.
Speaker B:I can kind of say the same, so don't worry.
Speaker C:Trying to explain what Second City is.
Speaker C:For those of you that don't know.
Speaker C:It was my first time.
Speaker C:It was like a live Saturday Night Live show.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And was it all improv?
Speaker B:Sketch comedy.
Speaker C:Sketch comedy.
Speaker C:It was improv.
Speaker C:And we were sitting in the front, and one of the stage actors was cooking, and she asked someone in the stand in the audience, what is their favorite dish?
Speaker C:And it happened to be your mom.
Speaker C:And she said, I'm trying to.
Speaker C:It's not coming up to me.
Speaker C:But it was so.
Speaker B:Peanut butter pickle pie.
Speaker C:Peanut butter pickle pie.
Speaker C:Remember, this is sketch comedy.
Speaker C:It's improv.
Speaker C:They asked her, what is she baking?
Speaker C:And she said, peanut butter pickle pie.
Speaker C:They had to use that the rest of the show, the look on their face.
Speaker C:Trying to.
Speaker C:Matter of fact, not just the look on their face, the way they made it work was incredible.
Speaker C:I was like, the rest of that evening, it was all about peanut butter, pickle pie.
Speaker C:And they made it sound great.
Speaker C:And that was just so.
Speaker C:I enjoyed that evening.
Speaker C:So I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
Speaker C:Especially it's something in person, right in front of me.
Speaker C:Improv.
Speaker C:I mean, that was a really good show.
Speaker C:And also come to find out, there were a lot of great actors and actresses that came off.
Speaker C:It started on that stage.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We were looking in the queue line and there was.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:I mean, so many people from snl.
Speaker B:Bill Murray.
Speaker B:Oh, Steve Carell.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All came from Second City.
Speaker B:Amy Poehler, of course, that's her stomping grounds.
Speaker B:But, yeah, maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe people who we saw will blow up, but they're just.
Speaker B:They were all fabulous to them.
Speaker C:Definitely.
Speaker C:If you ever go to Chicago, you have to go to Second City.
Speaker C:I mean, that.
Speaker C:That's an evening you will enjoy.
Speaker C:I guarantee it.
Speaker C:If you like comedy, you will enjoy that evening.
Speaker C:And they also do.
Speaker C:They do training shows?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:They do workshops.
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:My mom came along with me, and she had been.
Speaker B:She's in.
Speaker B:She's an improv teacher.
Speaker B:So it's been her dream to go to Second City to see a show.
Speaker B:But then they also have a workshop, so she was able to learn a couple of skills for her tool belts and use them, hopefully in class.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, you know, before we go back to Di, we'll just talk about the humble nature of Maddie and her mom, where she just said her mother was a improv teacher.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And when they asked at Second City, when they asked Maddie's mom what she did for a living, she said she was a teacher.
Speaker B:Teacher, yes.
Speaker C:No, Maddie's mom is an actress.
Speaker C:She is on a very popular show.
Speaker C:I'm sorry, I don't watch.
Speaker C:Because I actually don't watch a lot of tv.
Speaker C:I watch mostly movies that are violent.
Speaker B:Well, luckily, she hasn't done any of those.
Speaker C:But what's the show that your mom is currently starring?
Speaker B:Outer Banks.
Speaker C:Outer Banks.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I was just in Charleston.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So Maddie's mom is where they film it.
Speaker C:Maddie's mother is an actress in Outer Banks.
Speaker C:If that's the show that you watch, continue to watch it.
Speaker C:What I hear is it's a great show.
Speaker C:Maddie's mom is in it.
Speaker C:If you don't watch it, go watch Outer Banks, my co host mother is a star in that show Outer Banks.
Speaker B:Shout out to Mom.
Speaker C:Shout out to Mom.
Speaker C:Great job.
Speaker C:You don't have to be so humble.
Speaker C:I would have just said, I'm an actress, I'm an outer.
Speaker C:I might have got on stage and started actress.
Speaker C:I'm not that humble.
Speaker C:I'm sorry.
Speaker C:I would have just got up there and did my thing.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker C:Let's go back to the Destination International, Back to Business again, talking about a lot of conferences that we attend, and we attend quite a few.
Speaker C:We have the Governor's conference in the state of Florida that we attend every year.
Speaker C:I also attend a lot of conferences, federal conferences, VA conferences, small business 8A small business conferences.
Speaker C:And again, all of these conferences, the different DoD conferences that we have throughout the country haven't been Oconus to any events yet, but we're getting there.
Speaker C:Eventually we'll do some destination conferences in Oconus.
Speaker C:That's outside the continental United States.
Speaker C:We haven't gotten there yet and we do do a lot of conferences here.
Speaker C:But back to Destinations International again, it was a great conference.
Speaker C:We met a lot, had conversations with a lot of great destinations we hope to do business with.
Speaker C:As we continue to talk about Aqua Talks and Marketing, we will continue to promote and market destinations as a big part of this, our podcast, as opposed also with a lot of different private sector and public sector, federal and state marketing initiatives that we also will continue to promote and be big advocates of because we are marketing professionals.
Speaker C:That's what we do and we talk about it.
Speaker C:That's why we're called Aqua Talks.
Speaker C:So if you had to, you know, closing out anything that you took from Destinations International, anything that you would highlight that sticks out.
Speaker B:Oh, gosh, there's so much.
Speaker B:Two sessions that I particularly loved were, I believe it was Alberta, Canada and Minnesota or Milwaukee maybe, I can't remember exactly, Sorry.
Speaker B:They did a session about including indigenous voices and marketing and it was really fascinating to hear about how a lot of younger generations are really interested in the fabric of a community when they visit it.
Speaker B:So it's not just about showing up and we do whatever and go to the newest, funnest things.
Speaker B:It's that they want to know the history, they want to know how the town was built, they want to know all of the details.
Speaker B:And I just think that's really intentional and thoughtful when it comes to travel.
Speaker B:And they did have indigenous peoples from like the tribes come and help with the marketing plan of the destination, which I thought was really beautiful and cool.
Speaker B:And just learning about that was really lovely and eye opening and something I would eventually like to maybe try out.
Speaker B:Just the storytelling of it all, but also the inclusivity is really amazing as well.
Speaker B:Then there was a panel visit Asheville, who has had the bounce back of the century since the big hurricanes that came through.
Speaker B:They did a panel about crisis communications along with some California CVB's that were affected by the fires.
Speaker B:And there was just such a wealth of knowledge there.
Speaker B:Again, it's just about, I think biggest takeaway to answer your question is it really matters.
Speaker B:Human connections amidst all AI VR everything.
Speaker B:Human connections are the most important and that's what's going to get you through the difficult times or difficult conversations and just sitting, listening, being present.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Going to go back to my Zen.
Speaker C:Back to your Zen motto.
Speaker C:We had a great time at Destinations International Di.
Speaker C:We met a lot of great vendors, we made a lot of great, had some conversations with a lot of destinations.
Speaker C:We've been to Florida, Destination Florida.
Speaker C:We've been to Etourism Summit in Vegas.
Speaker C:We're going to etourism again in D.C. the end of this year.
Speaker C:We have the Governor's Conference in Florida.
Speaker C:We do that every year.
Speaker C:We'll eventually be doing some Governor conferences in other states.
Speaker C:A lot of different destination events coming up throughout the different organizations throughout the different states across the country.
Speaker C:We have The Small Business E8, a small business event which is a federal hosted event in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker C:We look to see the different events that come up for the different industries that we're in, where we market.
Speaker C:We look forward to that.
Speaker C:We'll continue to do that.
Speaker C:You'll continue to see us there and, and we look forward to seeing and meeting as many people as we can when we get to these organizations.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm also going to be likely attending the International Media Marketplace conference in January in New York back at the Javits Center.
Speaker B:So would love to see any reporters or destination marketing organizations there while I'm in the Big Apple.
Speaker C:That's the fun part of being a destination marketing company.
Speaker C:We get to go and see a lot of our destinations.
Speaker C:Yeah, we get to visit a lot of the clients that we work with.
Speaker C:You spend a lot of time at Daytona beach and Punta Gorda Beach.
Speaker C:It's a great, great industry to work in.
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, thank you for tuning in today again.
Speaker B:I'm Maddie and this is Larry and this is Aqua Talks.
Speaker B:If you're interested in learning more, please go to aquatax.com we have some more information on there.
Speaker B:We also have all of our social links, YouTube, et cetera.
Speaker B:And you can listen.
Speaker B:Follow this pod wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker A:You've been listening to Aqua Talks, where marketing innovation takes center stage with bold ideas and actionable insights.
Speaker A:Ready to take your strategies to the next level?
Speaker A:Visit aquataks.com to book your free consultation and explore resources that empower you to thrive in today's fast paced marketing world.
Speaker A:Until next time, stay bold, stay inspired, stay imaginative.
