Is Your DMO Website Still Just a Listings Page in an AI World? (Will Wright)

AI is already cutting DMOs out of the trip-planning conversation - and Will Wright (Destination Core) thinks most destination websites are wasting the one asset that could save them: real local knowledge.

Will's thesis: DMOs are sitting on one of the most powerful editorial assets in travel - trusted, local, authentic knowledge - but keep acting like paid listing sites instead of genuine local experts. His fix is a layered approach to data. Below the "hygiene" facts (hours, room counts, amenities) that OTAs already own, there's a "vibe" layer - subjective, experiential judgment that only comes from people who've actually been there. He argues DMOs could become an accreditation layer: not hosting reviews themselves, but vouching for which ones are legitimate, like a digital version of the vanishing visitor information center.

Stuart pushes back hard - member businesses will revolt if you start scoring them, and scraping reviews off TripAdvisor and Expedia runs straight into their terms of service. The two go back and forth on whether accreditation is realistic or just a nice idea that dies on contact with stakeholders.

Also covered: Claude's new consumer-facing trip-planning feature and what it signals about AI disintermediating DMO websites entirely, and why DMOs may have been collecting first-party data for the wrong reasons all along.

Bottom Line: Your website's opening-hours-and-amenities data is already commodity information. The differentiator is the layer only your team can provide - genuine, experienced, local judgment - and if you're not building that, an AI or an OTA will fill the gap for you.