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Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) play a pivotal role in shaping industry trends and strategies. To outline the state of destination marketing in 2024, digital marketing platform Sojern has collaborated with the Digital Tourism Think Tank (DTTT), supported by Brand USA, Destination Canada, and the European Travel Commission, to produce the “State of Destination Marketing 2024” report.
Drawing insights from nearly 300 DMOs worldwide, the report delves into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, focusing on key areas such as economic impacts, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, digital media investments, data privacy, sustainability, and the rise of regenerative tourism strategies.
Sojern’s report paints a picture of the challenges and opportunities facing DMOs in the evolving travel industry. As AI continues to shape marketing strategies, data privacy concerns evolve, and destinations prioritise sustainability and inclusivity, the report serves as a guide for DMOs navigating the landscape. Embracing co-op marketing, optimising data utilization, and adapting to emerging platforms will be crucial for destinations seeking sustained growth and success in the competitive world of travel marketing.
 
Economic uncertainty and strategic planning
The report reveals that economic uncertainty, inflation, and the cost of living are significantly influencing the strategies of more than 50% of respondents. The insights also underscore the importance of promoting sustainable and diverse tourism, meeting consumers’ desire for unique experiences, and leveraging technology to remain competitive in a dynamic environment.
 
AI revolutionizing marketing
Sojern’s report points out that AI is a transformative force in destination marketing, with 49% of DMOs anticipating its most significant impact in content creation. However, confidence varies across functions, with DMOs expressing less certainty about AI’s influence on web, app, and platform creation (71% less confident) and conversational marketing (63% less confident). The report highlights the potential for AI in predictive analysis, data interpretation, and marketing content personalization.
 

 
DMOs pointed to the potential of using data in both analysis, interpretation, and forecasting, where there is much interest in seeing how AI might help address some of the concerns identified earlier in the report. AI is predicted to have a considerable impact and disrupt all aspects of marketing. Web, app, and platform creation was regarded as the function that is hardest to automate. While ChatGPT can today write code, the report states that there is skepticism as to its ability to develop a fully-fledged, end-to-end digital experience on par with best-in-class examples of digital activation.
 
Digital paid media investments and meta dominance
According to Sojern’s report, paid media remains a cornerstone for DMOs, with 96% making significant investments. The dominance of social media advertising (96%) and Search Engine Marketing (95%) persists, with Instagram and Facebook (Meta) leading as the most important platforms. While TikTok gains global attention, only 5% of respondents rank it as their most important channel, suggesting a slower-than-expected adoption.
 
Shifting strategies around data and privacy
The report highlights the importance of data in marketing planning, with 54% of respondents valuing it the most. Demographic data (88%) guides decisions, but challenges such as data integration (52%), high acquisition costs (46%), and limited access to quality data (42%) persist. With Google’s deprecation of third-party cookies in 2024, DMOs are adapting, with 60% focusing on social content and 58% prioritizing obtaining more first-party data.
 

 
This is followed by using data for the analysis of marketing results (38%), with relatively little importance placed on using data to make optimisations to ongoing campaigns (8%). Data’s role in setting up and deciding on the right channels, strategy, audiences, and tactics far outweighs its value for actively optimising marketing activities once they’re live. Budgeting and planning marketing actions well in advance, as well as reporting and accountability to stakeholders, dominate DMOs’ data needs. On the other hand, commercial players may find that actively optimising campaigns is of far greater importance to ultimately achieve the best return on investment.
As for data used by DMOs to guide strategic decision-making, 86% utilize visitor statistics and 81% leverage core digital marketing insights. While 60% of DMOs use off-the-shelf integrated analytics tools, such as Google Analytics and Meta Business Suite, success often lies in the advanced use of analytics, where DMOs are driven to optimise performance across all channels and touchpoints. 9% of DMOs turn to advanced mar-tech solutions, such as Adobe Analytics, Salesforce Marketing, or Cloud Intelligence, while 15% have invested in developing advanced in-house analytical tools, often in the form of data dashboards.
The remaining 16% of DMOs outsource their data analytics needs.
 
Prioritising environmental and social goals
DMOs are aligning their strategies with sustainability and diversity. European DMOs lead in prioritising environmental sustainability, while 42% of all respondents prioritise gender equality. Regenerative tourism strategies gain prominence, with 47% of Canadian, 41% of European, and 28% of U.S. respondents considering it a strong strategic focus.
Based on Sojern’s report, around 35% of respondents said that LGBTQ+- specific strategies (i.e. sexual orientation) were strongly prioritised, with similar importance (34%) placed on promoting social and economic diversity. Nearly half (42%) of DMOs strongly state addressing gender equality (i.e. female equality) in their strategies to be a priority.
While celebrating racial and ethnic diversity is a key priority for DMOs in the U.S. (51%) and Canada (53%), in Europe, this is only the case for 23% of respondents. When looking at how indigenous cultures and communities are represented, Canadian DMOs stand out for the strong emphasis given here, with 71% of respondents identifying it as a key component in their strategies.
 
Embracing co-op marketing priorities and full-funnel marketing
Co-op marketing emerges as a collaborative approach, with 78% of global DMOs actively investing in industry partner campaigns. Motivators include boosting overall marketing investment (58%), expanding audience reach (54%), and cost-sharing (46%). Despite challenges in coordination (51%), DMOs recognize the value of co-op partnerships, emphasizing adaptability and robust capabilities.
Notably, 70% of DMOs are embracing “full funnel” marketing campaign activities. As the travel industry keeps changing, DMOs need to remain adaptable, focus on data and cultivate robust capabilities with their destination marketing strategies.
 

 
Sojern’s report highlights that full-funnel campaigns are essential for DMOs because marketing campaigns are judged based on their impact. Partner and first-party data can then feed into the planning of future campaigns to lead to continuous optimization. By taking a full-funnel approach, DMOs can also facilitate loyalty and encourage repeat visits, rather than starting each campaign from scratch in terms of building awareness and driving consumers through all phases of the marketing funnel.
Investment gradually reduces further down the funnel, with conversion being the lowest priority for DMOs, despite opportunities where industry partners can facilitate bookings through their own digital infrastructure. A key challenge remains attribution modeling to understand the level of conversion generated by DMO marketing campaigns.
 
The TikTok phenomenon and social media dominance
According to Sojern’s data, while TikTok’s popularity soars, media investment lags behind expectations, with only 29% of DMOs ranking it in the top 3 social marketing channels. However, TikTok’s unique algorithm and user engagement potential highlight its growing importance, especially among younger audiences. Facebook and Instagram (Meta) remain the top priorities, with 60% of U.S. travelers expressing an increased desire to visit a destination after seeing it on TikTok.
 

 
Advertising through Meta enables DMOs to maximize their potential reach and obtain the greatest levels of engagement, thereby also achieving a lower Cost Per Mille (CPM). Social media advertising and search engine marketing (SEM) dominate the paid media mix, with 96% of DMOs considering social media advertising to be of high or average importance in their activities, and nearly 95% for search. Programmatic advertising trails only slightly behind, with 86% placing high or average importance on this medium to deliver intelligent results across multiple channels, adapting and evolving according to campaign performance throughout delivery.
Despite the strong interest in new channels and mediums, some channels showed relatively low levels of interest, with 89% considering gaming of low importance, compared with 69% for in-app advertising, 61% for digital audio advertising, and 48% considering CTV to be of low importance. This suggests a degree of trepidation among DMOs before jumping into new, yet-to-be tested channels and formats.

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