Tourism Lexicon: United States (2024 Release)

If we are going to be successful in changing the narrative around our industry, it starts with a values-based approach – where emotion and logic meet. That means talking to stakeholders in a manner that is simple and emotional and connects their values to your organization.

The reality is that people tend to frame political arguments, and the facts behind them, in terms of their own values. That means words matter in politics. They need to be chosen carefully and need to carry an emotional connection. Destinations International believes that destination organizations need to support their economic message with emotional and values-based appeal to convince political leaders and community stakeholders that these returns will vanish without destination organizations.

Utilizing the world's most comprehensive database of legislative information, Destinations International was able to build a list of key words that were used repeatedly by elected officials when talking positively about travel and tourism. They then ran an analysis of political discourse around related topics and public goods and found that many of the same key words were being repeated by political leaders.