2025 DestinationNEXT Study Takeaways for Event Strategists

This isn't just a roadmap for destination organizations. It’s a resource for event strategists navigating shifting attendee expectations, emerging technologies, and a planning landscape where place, purpose, and people matter more than ever. 

Why This Study Matters to You

Destinations International’s DestinationNEXT Futures Study, produced in partnership with MMGY NextFactor and made possible through support of the Destinations International Foundation, is a worldwide survey of destination professionals. It’s informed by a global advisory council and five targeted industry panels—including a customer panel, comprising, in part, meeting planners who represent the voice of today’s business events buyers.

• Survey scope: Nine percent of destination respondents focused solely on business events, while 80% served both business and leisure travel.
• Industry evolution: The study reflects a shift in how destination organizations see their role—not just as marketers, but as destination stewards and development partners.

The result? A more aligned vision between event strategists and destination organizations that empowers both to drive long-term impact, resilience, and relevance.

What the Key Forces Shaping the Future of DMOs Mean for Planners

By collaborating with destination organizations during the planning process, you’ll unlock strategic resources, local intelligence, and a bigger seat at the table.

1. Securing Investment Through Advocacy & Impact

The study shows that destination organizations must strengthen their relationships with community stakeholders and position tourism positively to secure funding. These efforts also work to ensure that business events are welcomed and have local buy-in. This also means that the destination organization will be funded, allowing them to extend services to event strategists at no additional cost. For event strategists, this means designing meetings that align with local priorities. 

2. Navigating Economic & Geopolitical Uncertainty 

Like you, destination organizations must remain agile in this time of economic uncertainty and global travel shifts, which are leading travelers, including business travelers and meeting attendees, to seek destinations perceived as safe and welcoming. When choosing the host destination of your next meeting, communicate directly and openly with the destination organization, which can anticipate change before it happens by integrating data, local insights, and external scanning. 

3. Scaling Organizational Capacity to Meet Expanding Expectations

Destination organizations are increasingly developing strategic alliances across multiple economic sectors to leverage resources. Event strategists can leverage these alliances by working with destination organizations to incorporate unique offerings and intellectual capital to enhance the relevance and resonance of their meetings.

4. Shaping Places for People & Prosperity

Preserving authenticity isn’t just a destination’s job—it’s an event strategist’s, too, and it’s an opportunity for you to incorporate the distinctiveness of the destination into your meeting, especially as attendees seek one-of-a-kind experiences in destinations beyond just the traditionally popular big cities. 

5. Reimaging Destination Marketing in the Age of AI & Authenticity

The study emphasizes that the most effective destination marketers of tomorrow must balance emerging tech, such as generative AI, and local voice. Together with the destination organization, you have the opportunity to use tools like generative AI to enhance storytelling, event promotion, and tailored messaging, resulting in more engaging attendee journeys.

6. Driving Impact Through International Event Strategies 

Destinations are becoming more intentional about the events they pursue, looking to support ones that enhance their brand and support the local economy. As part of this effort, you could see financial support from destinations offering incentives to attract business events. Beyond this, the trend toward destinations making sure they host the right events underscores the importance of collaboration with destination organizations as part of your event strategy to ensure alignment. This can pay dividends by providing education, inspiration, and connection as business events become increasingly experiential.

At the same time, as destinations become more involved in driving investment toward upgraded venues and infrastructures to attract events (which benefits you), they need to prioritize transparency and community consultation. Ensure your event communication does the same to get buy-in from the community. 

7. Advancing Regeneration & Building Long-Term Resilience

As part of transparency efforts, you can help show your business event’s effect on the destination by aligning programs with intellectual capital and the local community. This demonstrates meaningful return beyond tourism dollars and makes your meeting part of something bigger—an important point to all of your stakeholders, including attendees, board members, and sponsors.

And with event success being redefined through metrics like sustainability outcomes and community contribution, destination organizations that are also focused on developing multidimensional KPIs can help you build these measurements into your event framework from the start.

8. Building a Future-Ready Industry Workforce & Organization 

The industry as a whole—not just event strategists, and not just destination organizations—is facing a workforce evolution. Through mentorship and education for those new to the industry, both event strategists and destination organizations must work together to address skilled labor shortages and generational shifts in the workplace. Collectively building this up will support the planner in the planning process, the attendee experience, and the local community workforce.

How to Partner with Destination Organizations

Today’s destination organizations offer so much more than booking support and event promotion. With their expanded roles, event strategists can leverage deeper planning input and local insights—further reasons to collaborate with them.

Here’s how to work with them strategically for mutual benefit: 

Ensure Industry Commitment 

You can quickly identify destination organizations that have a commitment to meeting the industry standards and navigating shifts by ensuring that they are Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) accredited when first reaching out to them. That way, you’ll also gain the benefits of DMAP-accredited destinations organizations, including:

• Credibility that attracts more funding from public and private sectors, which is being directed at upgraded venues, public spaces and digital infrastructure
• Accredited organizations have standards around the meeting sourcing process to ensure that the event strategists’ preferences are being met
• Ability to give you the tools you need to think strategically and lead with confidence
• Stronger ties with community leaders, businesses and organizations that allow you to incorporate local expertise
• Creation of a workplace made of thriving employees and leaders who hold themselves accountable—that you get to partner with
• Adaptability with a framework that drives continuous growth and improvement 

Engage Early

Work with the destination organization from the start—include them in the sourcing up front and collaborate with them on venue selection, event type and alignment with local identity.

Co-Create with Community

Destination organizations can help ensure that your event goals align with the destination’s values, identity and impact priorities.

Leverage Local Insights 

Destination organizations can connect you with speakers, vendors and meeting facilities that bring the destination’s character to life. 

Tap into Destination Organization AI Tools

Utilize personalized destination assets for attendee engagement.

Showcase Impact

Build your case for internal and external stakeholders by going beyond reporting on attendance and spending and measuring community and economic benefits, as well as environmental and social outcomes. Positioning your meeting to showcase return to community—through job creation, visibility and local benefit. 

Ask the destination partner about the Event Impact Calculator (EIC), which measures the economic value of a business event and calculates its return on investment to local taxes. More than 300 destination organizations use this tool. 

Learn more about destination organizations and their value to your event strategy. 

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