Back in 2021, when I left the industry for a short time, AI was just a buzzword at conferences, it was something for the future. When I returned to the industry in 2024, it had become the topic. I dove in, fast. I jumped in and quickly learned the benefits of using AI for productivity, automating processes, assisting visitors, and analyzing data.  Understanding what AI can (and can’t) do is critical to staying competitive.

1. AI Can Enhance Content Creation, but it Doesn’t Replace Creativity and Trust.

AI tools like ChatGPT help marketers generate blog outlines, social media captions, itineraries and more, saving time and helping to maintain a consistent tone.

While AI can help you brainstorm and craft the story, your creativity and local expertise are key to authenticity. Nothing will turn audiences off quicker than generic AI created content.  

Only human input will bring in destination-specific nuances, like insider tips or community stories that AI alone can’t generate.

For example, while AI might list the top 5 restaurants in your area, it takes the DMO to spotlight the chef who sources their products from a local farm, or a partnership between a restaurant and a bakery.

AI can help as a trusted assistant, but it should never be the authority. 

2. AI Is Only as Good as the Prompts You Give

With clear, intentional prompts, AI becomes an outstanding assistant.
Start by opening ChatGPT (or your preferred platform) and try a simple prompt like:
“You are a destination marketer with 10 years’ experience working in my state.”
Then ask a few follow-up questions. The more context and direction you give it, the more useful the output becomes.

Prompts don’t have to be short, they can, and should, evolve. A presentation at the 2024 Destinations International Convention showcased how one marketer used AI to build a marketing plan. He asked ChatGPT to rate its own output for each section and kept refining until it scored 100% across the board. The AI-generated plan then served as a starting point for building the full DMO strategy.

You can also train your AI tool to adopt your brand’s voice. Describe the tone you want, and feed it sample content that reflects your brand personality. Over time, it will adapt.

3. AI Can Analyze Data Quickly and Effectively

All DMOs collect tons of data, but manually analyzing it is time consuming. 
AI can assist analyzing data by:  

• Detecting patterns and trends
• Finding anomalies
• Generating summaries in easy-to-understand language

AI can also assist with social listening, pulling insights from news articles or blogs and online reviews.

For example, using ChatGPT, paste or upload your data source and ask clear, specific questions like:

• “What are the key takeaways from this visitor data?”
• “What are the most clicked links in our newsletter?”

Then follow up with action-based questions like: 

• “How should I optimize my newsletter for a higher click through ratio?”  
• “How can I optimize my itinerary page for more search traffic?”

4. Chatbots and Virtual Guides are DMO’s 24/7 Ambassadors

Many DMOs, including DistiNCtly Fayetteville, have launched chatbots or virtual guides. These guides help bring visitors deeper into the site and help users plan at any time of the day.  

Virtual guides can:

• Customize itineraries based on interests
• Answer FAQs
• Provide real-time data on weather and closures
• Integrate maps, event calendar and links to local attractions

At DistiNCtly Fayetteville, we worked with a third party to develop our chatbot/virtual assistant. Our chosen avatar, Grove, is a Dogwood Tree that personifies the DistiNCtly Fayetteville brand and tone. On the date this blog was written, Grove was life for 8 days. In that short time, Grove had 212 conversations, and 637 messages were exchanged in those conversations. Nearly 53% of the conversation happened outside of business hours.  Top topics were activities, events and food and drink. Grove saved DistiNCtly Fayetteville an estimate 18 staff hours answering these questions. 

5. AI Helps with Personalization Across Websites, Email, Ads and More.   

AI can customize what visitors see based on interests or behavior. As an example, your website can be personalized so that if someone visits a page about art galleries AI can display data showing itineraries, blogs or events that match that theme.  Or, based on past behavior and interests, return visitors can be served a customized landing page. 
AI can also help with targeted advertising and email campaigns. 
There are a lot of tools that help with personalization, and many work best when paired with your CRM, CMS, and data sources such as G4.

Final Thoughts  

You don’t need to be an expert at machine learning to unlock AI’s potential. But you do have to be curious and willing to experiment. 
Take that first step. Ask lots of questions, test outputs and refine your prompts.  

DMOs that embrace AI’s efficiencies while preserving their unique local voice, will be best positioned to thrive in the evolving travel landscape.