If you’ve ever planned a trip using a destination website, downloaded a visitor guide, attended a convention, or discovered a city through a tourism campaign, you’ve likely benefited from the work of a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO).
DMOs play a critical role in the tourism industry, helping destinations attract visitors, support local businesses, generate economic impact, and strengthen communities. Yet despite their influence, many travelers—and even some hospitality students—are unfamiliar with what these organizations do or how they operate.
Because The Contemporary Tourist is based in Arizona, many of the examples used throughout this article come from Arizona’s tourism industry. However, the concepts discussed apply to Destination Marketing Organizations across the United States.
What Is a Destination Marketing Organization?
A Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) is an entity responsible for promoting a destination to potential visitors. These organizations develop marketing campaigns, attract meetings and events, provide visitor information, and collaborate with tourism stakeholders to increase visitation and economic activity.
DMOs can promote a variety of destinations, including:
- Cities
- Regions
- States
- Countries
Depending on the destination, a DMO may also be referred to as a:
- Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB)
- Tourism Authority
- Visitors Bureau
- Tourism Board
- Destination Organization
While the names may differ, their overall mission remains the same: attracting visitors and supporting the local tourism economy.
Why Are DMOs Important?
Tourism is one of the largest economic sectors in the United States. When visitors travel, they spend money on accommodations, restaurants, attractions, transportation, shopping, and entertainment.
That spending creates jobs, supports local businesses, and generates tax revenue that can benefit residents.
DMOs help drive this economic activity by increasing awareness of destinations and encouraging travel. In many communities, tourism serves as an important economic development strategy because visitor spending brings outside dollars into the local economy.
Without destination promotion, many cities and regions would struggle to compete for visitors in an increasingly crowded travel marketplace.
What Do DMOs Actually Do?
Many people assume DMOs simply run advertisements or manage tourism websites. In reality, their responsibilities often extend far beyond marketing.
Destination Marketing
Marketing remains one of the most visible functions of a DMO.
Activities often include:
- Digital advertising
- Social media campaigns
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Public relations
- Travel guides
- Content creation
- Influencer partnerships
- Email marketing
These efforts help destinations reach potential visitors and inspire travel decisions.
Meetings and Convention Sales
Many DMOs maintain dedicated sales teams focused on attracting meetings, conventions, sporting events, and group travel.
Convention sales professionals work directly with event planners to showcase hotels, venues, transportation options, and local attractions.
These efforts can generate significant economic impact by bringing large groups of visitors into a destination.
Visitor Services
DMOs also help travelers plan their trips through:
- Visitor centers
- Destination websites
- Travel guides
- Maps
- Event calendars
- Local recommendations
These resources help improve the visitor experience while encouraging travelers to explore more of a destination.
Tourism Development
As the tourism industry evolves, many DMOs are becoming increasingly involved in destination development and long-term planning.
This can include supporting new attractions, enhancing visitor experiences, collaborating with stakeholders, and helping communities identify tourism opportunities.
Not All DMOs Operate the Same Way
One of the biggest misconceptions about DMOs is that they all follow the same organizational structure.
In reality, DMOs can be organized in several different ways depending on a destination’s goals, funding sources, and governance model.
Government-Operated DMOs
Some tourism organizations operate directly within local government.
These organizations often work closely with city leadership, economic development teams, and other municipal departments to ensure tourism supports broader community goals.
Experience Glendale provides an example of this structure. Operating within the City of Glendale’s Economic Development Department, the organization promotes tourism while also supporting economic development initiatives, events, and destination growth throughout the community.
Government-operated DMOs often benefit from strong connections to public-sector resources and strategic planning efforts.
Independent Nonprofit Organizations
Many DMOs throughout the United States operate as independent nonprofit organizations.
These organizations frequently receive funding from tourism-related taxes while maintaining their own leadership structures and boards of directors.
The nonprofit model allows tourism professionals and industry stakeholders to focus exclusively on destination promotion while remaining accountable to community partners.
Public-Private Partnerships
Some DMOs combine public support with private-sector leadership.
Visit Phoenix illustrates this model well. The organization works closely with hotels, attractions, event venues, tourism businesses, and municipalities throughout the Greater Phoenix area while operating independently from city government.
Public-private partnerships often provide greater operational flexibility while maintaining strong connections to both industry stakeholders and public agencies.
How Are DMOs Funded?
Funding structures vary across destinations, but many DMOs receive support through hotel occupancy taxes, sometimes referred to as bed taxes.
Because these taxes are primarily paid by visitors rather than residents, they provide a funding source specifically designed to support tourism promotion.
Additional funding may come from:
- Membership programs
- Sponsorships
- Partnership agreements
- Government appropriations
- Grants
- Event revenues
The funding model often depends on how a DMO is structured and governed.
State Tourism Organizations
State tourism organizations operate differently from local DMOs.
Rather than promoting a single city or region, they market an entire state to domestic and international visitors.
The Arizona Office of Tourism serves as Arizona’s official state tourism agency. Its responsibilities include statewide marketing campaigns, tourism research, industry support, grant programs, and collaboration with local tourism organizations.
State tourism offices help create a unified destination brand while supporting tourism development efforts across multiple communities.
The Shift Toward Destination Management
Historically, DMOs focused almost entirely on increasing visitor numbers.
Today, many tourism professionals recognize that success involves more than attracting additional travelers. Destinations must also consider sustainability, infrastructure capacity, resident quality of life, and long-term community goals.
As a result, many organizations have expanded their responsibilities beyond marketing and now emphasize destination management.
This shift includes greater attention to:
- Sustainable tourism
- Community engagement
- Accessibility
- Tourism policy
- Overtourism prevention
- Environmental stewardship
Some organizations have even begun referring to themselves as Destination Management Organizations while maintaining the familiar DMO acronym.
Careers in DMOs
For students and professionals interested in tourism, hospitality, events, marketing, or economic development, DMOs offer a wide variety of career opportunities.
Common positions include:
- Destination Marketing Specialist
- Convention Sales Manager
- Event Coordinator
- Tourism Development Manager
- Community Engagement Coordinator
- Visitor Services Manager
- Tourism Research Analyst
- Public Relations Specialist
These careers combine elements of marketing, business development, hospitality, communications, and strategic planning.
The Future of DMOs
Technology, changing traveler expectations, sustainability concerns, and increased competition between destinations are transforming the role of DMOs.
Organizations are investing more heavily in:
- Data analytics
- Artificial intelligence
- Digital marketing
- Sustainable tourism initiatives
- Community-focused planning
- Visitor experience management
As tourism continues to evolve, DMOs will play an increasingly important role in helping destinations remain competitive while ensuring tourism benefits both visitors and residents.
Conclusion
Destination Marketing Organizations are among the most influential yet least understood organizations in the tourism industry. Their work extends far beyond advertising campaigns, influencing economic development, visitor experiences, event attraction, and community growth.
Whether operating as government departments, nonprofit organizations, or public-private partnerships, DMOs help destinations compete in the global tourism marketplace.
From organizations like Experience Glendale and Visit Phoenix to statewide agencies such as the Arizona Office of Tourism, these organizations demonstrate the many ways destinations can promote tourism while supporting long-term community success.
The next time you download a visitor guide, attend a convention, or discover a new destination online, there is a good chance a DMO helped make that experience possible.
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