Who's Actually the Theater Director of Your Destination? (Seth Lieber)

Destinations International's 2025 Destination Next study says DMOs should stop just promoting the visitor experience and start owning it. Seth Lieber, founder of Seth Lieber Creative and a former DMO and theater professional, joins Stuart and Adam to make that case - using an extended theater metaphor where the destination is a production and someone has to direct it.

Stuart and Adam push back. If the DMO is expected to direct the show, why does it have zero authority over the actors - the municipalities, Main Street orgs, promoters, and businesses that actually deliver the experience? Adam floats a blunt fix: merge tourism and economic development into one department. Seth counters with a real model, Align Southern Indiana, a nonprofit that coordinates DMOs, chambers, and economic development without one director.

They also stress-test Seth's 15-point "Visitor Readiness Framework," a checklist for vetting events before a DMO backs them. Stuart and Adam worry it would've killed Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Conway's "City of Halloween" - all of which took years of rough, money-losing runs before becoming hits.

They close with an idea Myrtle Beach is testing: instead of waiting for promoters to pitch the destination, what if the DMO issued an RFP - offering incentives like guaranteed promotional spend - to recruit events it wants?

Bottom Line: Every DMO is told to own the visitor experience. Almost none have the authority to direct it - and this episode never resolves whether that's a structure to fix or a limit to accept.