I d like to begin by MEMBER UPDATE PRESIDENT S LETTER OCTOBER 2019 INSIDE:

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1 MEMBER UPDATE PRESIDENT S LETTER OCTOBER 2019 INSIDE: 2019 Annual Convention Highlights Foundation Updates Introducing the EIC Local and Public Events (LPE) Module Membership Highlights Download the Complimentary DestinationNEXT Futures Study Upcoming Events Living the Lexicon Invest in the Advancement of Destination Organizations Around the World I d like to begin by thanking our many Board members that serve our organization and industry. Special thanks to our Immediate Past Board Chair, William Pate, President and CEO of the Atlanta CVB, and our Immediate Past Foundation Board Chair, Jason Fulvi, CDME, President and CEO of Visit KC, for the leadership and guidance they provided during their terms. We would also like to thank everyone who took the time to attend our Annual Convention in St. Louis, MO. Kitty Ratcliffe, of Explore St. Louis, and her team went above and beyond to welcome us to their destination, and we are grateful for all of their help in making the convention a success. Many exciting events happened during the week in St. Louis. We officially welcomed our new Board Chair, Craig Davis, CDME, President and CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH and our new Foundation Chair, John Groh, CDME, President and CEO of the Rockford Area CVB. We look forward to a successful year under their leadership. We also made the exciting announcement about our new joint venture with PCMA for Destination Showcase. Please mark your calendar for the 2020 Destination Showcase taking place February 5, in Washington, D.C., and make sure to check our website to sign up for an exhibit booth. We have had a lot of feedback from Jack Johnson s presentation on Becoming a Community Shared Value. We believe that destination organizations can no longer count on blind government support or rely on ROI statistics and visitation numbers to measure success. As our elected officials, the media and our communities are asking for transparency and taking a closer look at our budgets and operations, it is our job to make sure we are prepared to answer any questions by staying vigilant and proactive. We must realize that our local residents are our ultimate customers and make our efforts a shared value in our community and our teams a community asset. Jack and our advocacy team will continue to build upon this new strategy and over the next year will be providing you with the information and tools you need to make this pivot. Our team is in our fall summit season and we are looking forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming events. We invite you to check out the full listing of events on our website at destinationsinternational. org/all-events. Thanks again for your ongoing support of Destinations International and our industry. Best, Don Welsh President and CEO Destinations International

2 2019 ANNUAL CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS 4 CDME Courses 1 PDM Course 59 Education Sessions 4 Mega Sessions 4 CEO Lounge Sessions 51 Sessions 5 General Keynote Sessions 10 Evolve and Elevate Sessions Thank you to everyone who took the time to join us at our Annual Convention in St. Louis, MO. Here is a glimpse into the events of the week. This year s 30 Under 30 class had the opportunity to meet for the first time at the 2019 Annual Convention. The program by the Destinations International Foundation is supported by founding program partner, SearchWide Global and sponsored by IMEX Group, MMGY Global and Northstar Meetings Group. 1 There were 48 destination organizations that received DMAP recognition during the Annual Convention. Fifteen of those destinations were newly accredited. Congratulations! 2 This year s Annual Convention featured two public relationsfocused sessions including a panel on the Drastically Changing Media Landscape with Chris Heywood, EVP of Global Communications with There were 31 destination organization leaders who received their Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) credential, the tourism industry s highest individual achievement. These leaders have invested in their education and are now equipped with the knowledge needed to adapt to and manage the increasing change and competition facing our industry. 4 During the convention, Don Welsh, President and CEO of Destinations International, and Sherrif Karamat, President and CEO of PCMA, announced a joint venture for Destination Showcase. This joint venture with PCMA will truly elevate the value of Destination Showcase for the planner community and Destinations International Member Update NYC and Company; Nancy Trejos, freelancer and former USA Today Travel Editor; Brian Kelly, Founder of The Points Guy; and David McMillin, Editor of PCMA. 3 our destination organization members. Mark your calendar for the 2020 Destination Showcase on February 5 in Washington, D.C. 5 The Destinations International House Band made their debut during the Opening Reception. Special thanks to Gregg Shapiro with Tempest and Adam Sacks with Tourism Economics for their hard work in putting this band together. 6 Nearly 100 exhibitors joined us this year on the show floor to showcase their products and services to our members and partners. 7 Craig Davis, CDME, President and CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH and Chair of Destinations International, and William Pate, President and CEO of the Atlanta CVB and Immediate Past Chair of Destinations International, went head-to-head during Trip Advisor s Pack-AThon. 8

3 THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! THANKS FOR SUPPORTING THE DESTINATIONS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION DURING THE ANNUAL CONVENTION The Silent Auction had a record number of items and brought in almost $91,000. Thank you to all our donors and to everyone who participated! Special thanks to John Percy, CDME, President and CEO of Destination Niagara USA, for his great work with our inaugural Percy s Purse Raffle. We had 16 purses donated by partners and members from well-known designers such as Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Coach and raised $4,300. There were 72 golfers that teed off for our Annual Golf Tournament before the Annual Convention began. Congratulations to the winning foursome including Kyle Jewison with CrowdRiff; Jason Outman with Experience Columbia SC; Bill Ellen with Midlands Authority SAVE THE DATE for Convention, Sports and Tourism, and Jeff Homad with Memphis Tourism. PINNACLE PARTNERS TripAdvisor, Miles Partnership, Sojern, Sparkloft, Destination Analysts and Storygize hosted a superhero event that raised over $1,300. TripAdvisor also hosted a Pack-A-Thon, which raised $2,500 for the Foundation. Congratulations to Tammy Blount-Canavan, FCDME, with Fired Up! Culture, for winning the Pack-A-Thon! Lastly, our Destinations International House Band raised an additional $1,420 in t-shirt sales, sponsored by Tempest. Thanks again to everyone who donated your support will continue to fund the work of the Destinations International Foundation. PREMIER PARTNERS PMS C ANNUAL CONVENTION EVENT SPONSORS DESTINATIONS INTERNATIONAL 2020 ANNUAL CONVENTION JULY CHICAGO, IL destinationsinternational.org/annual 4 1 For a complete list of Destinations International s year-round partners, visit destinationsinternational.org/our-partners 3

4 THANKS TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS Destinations International is truly grateful for the strong leadership and continued commitment from our Board Members. Please join us in welcoming our Board of Directors, Board of Trustees and the DMAP and CDME Boards. ASSOCIATION BOARD Bennish Brown, President & CEO, Augusta CVB Leslie Bruce, President & CEO, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism David Burgess, President & CEO, Miles Partnership Matt Clement, CDME, VP Marketing & Business Development, Arrivalist Julie Coker Graham, President and CEO, Philadelphia CVB* Craig Davis, CDME, President & CEO, VisitPITTSBURGH* Chuck Davison, CDME, President & CEO, Visit SLO CAL Ignasi de Delas, Deputy General Manager, Turisme de Barcelona Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA, President & CEO, IAEE Karl Ely, CAE, Senior Vice President & Publisher, ASAE Dario Flota Ocampo, CEO, Quintana Roo Tourism Board Maura Gast, FCDME, Executive Director, Irving CVB Ryan George, CEO, Simpleview Virginia J. Haley, CDME, President, Visit Sarasota County Gretchen Hall, CDME, CMP, President & CEO, Little Rock CVB* Al Hutchinson, President & CEO, Visit Baltimore* Sherrif Karamat, CAE, CEO, PCMA Thomas Kemp, CEO, Northstar Travel Group John Lambeth, President & CEO, Civitas Melyssa Laughlin, CDME, President & CEO, Visit Vacaville Nan Marchand Beauvois, Senior Vice President, U.S. Travel Association Steve Moore, President & CEO, Visit Phoenix Tom Noonan, President & CEO, Visit Austin Paul Nursey, President & CEO, Destination Greater Victoria William Pate, President & CEO, Atlanta CVB* Ron Price, CDME, President & CEO, Arlington CVB Marla Roe, CDME, Executive Director, Visit Frisco Brian Ross, President & CEO, Experience Columbus Butch Spyridon, President & CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation* Chris Thompson, CDME, President & CEO, Brand USA* Mike Waterman, Chief Sales Officer, Orlando CVB Scott White, President & CEO, Greater Palm Springs CVB* FOUNDATION BOARD Keith Backsen, CDME, Executive Director Visit Omaha Scott Beck, President & CEO, Visit Toronto Jay Burress, President & CEO, Visit Anaheim Amir Eylon, President & CEO, Longwoods International Cara Frank, VP of Marketing Simpleview Jason Fulvi, CDME, President & CEO, Visit KC* Bill Geist, Chief Instigator, DMOProz Bryan Grimaldi, Counsel, Greenberg Traurig, LLP John Groh, CDME, President & CEO, Rockford Area CVB* Kellie Henderson, Senior Vice President, SearchWide Global Leonard Hoops, President & CEO, Visit Indy Linda John, CDME, Executive Director, Visit Eau Claire Cheryl Kilday, CDME, President & CEO, North Myrtle Beach Chamber/CVB John Lambeth, President & CEO, Civitas* Joseph Marinelli, President, Visit Savannah John Percy, CDME, President & CEO, Destination Niagara USA* Jorge Pesquera, CDME, President & CEO, Discover The Palm Beaches Stacy Ritter, President & CEO, Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB Vail Ross SVP, Global Business Development & Marketing, STR* Annette Rummel, Ph.D., CDME, CEO, Great Lakes Bay Regional CVB Milton Segarra, CDME, CEO, Coastal Mississippi Gregg Shapiro, President & Chief Creative Officer, Tempest Martha Sheridan, President & CEO Greater Boston CVB Butch Spyridon, President & CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation Ellie Westman Chin, CDME, President & CEO, Visit Franklin, TN CDME BOARD Don Anderson, Executive Partner, Destination Consultancy Group, LLC Deb Archer, CDME, President & CEO, Greater Madison CVB Cody Chomiak, CDME, Director of Marketing, Tourism Winnipeg Craig Davis, CDME, President & CEO, VisitPITTSBURGH Kathleen Frankford, CDME, VP of Marketing, MMGY NextFactor Maura Gast, FCDME, Executive Director, Irving CVB Jennifer Johnson, CDME, SHRM- CP, VP of Operations, Monterey County CVB Christopher Kipper, CDME, VP of Finance and Administration, Louisville Tourism Melyssa Laughlin, CDME, President & CEO, Visit Vacaville Kristin McGrath, CDME, VP of Sales, Sports & Services, Visit Albuquerque Brett Oetting, CDME, President & CEO Visit Topeka Steve Paganelli, CDME, Head of Destination Marketing, Americas, TripAdvisor Gary Sherwin, CDME, APR, President & CEO, Visit Newport Beach, Inc. Monica Smith, CDME, CMP, CASE, President & CEO, Southeast Tourism Society Jack Wert, FCDME, Executive Director/CEO, Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB Barry White, CDME, President & CEO, Chattanooga CVB DMAP BOARD Maura Gast, FCDME, Executive Director, Irving CVB Tania Armenta, President & CEO, Visit Albuquerque Cody Chomiak, CDME, Director of Marketing, Tourism Winnipeg John Cychol, FCDME, CTA Vice President-Meetings, Sales, Fort Worth CVB Meredith DaSilva, CDME, VP of Executive Operations & Administration, Visit Florida Karen Fisher, CDME, Chief Financial Officer, VisitPITTSBURGH Virginia Haley, CDME, President, Visit Sarasota County Mary Hammond, CDME, Executive Director, Paducah CVB David Holder, CDME, Vice President - Tourism, JLL Hotels and Hospitality Misty Johantgen, CDME, Chief Operating Officer, Experience Kissimmee Marcus Margerum, VP of Government & Community Affairs, Atlanta CVB Nancy McGehee, Ph.D., Department Head & Professor, Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Virginia Tech University Julie Saupe, CDME, President & CEO, Visit Anchorage Jose Sotolongo, Director, Sports & Entertainment Tourism, Greater Miami CVB Sports & Entertainment Tourism Earn your globally recognized accreditation and gain a visible industry distinction defining quality and performance standards in destination marketing and management. Learn more about becoming DMAP accredited at destinationsinternational.org/destinationmarketing-accreditation-program-dmap, or reach out to Brian London, DMAP Program Consultant at blondon@destinationsinternational.org. * Indicates Executive Committee Member 4 Destinations International Member Update

5 MEET THE NEW DESTINATIONS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION & FOUNDATION BOARD CHAIRS INTRODUCING THE EIC LOCAL AND PUBLIC EVENTS (LPE) MODULE Craig Davis, CDME Destinations International Board Chair President and CEO, VisitPITTSBURGH Craig has been in the destination organization industry for almost 19 years, having started his hospitality career in Toronto and Chicago before moving to Pittsburgh, PA to join VisitPITTSBURGH. During his term as Board Chair, Craig will continue working on our diversity and inclusion initiatives within our industry and will focus on educational growth opportunities, developing our global membership, and evaluating and expanding the products we provide to members. John Groh, CDME Destinations International Foundation Board Chair President & CEO of Rockford Area CVB John started out his career as an intern for his local CVB and after college, joined the Rockford Area CVB, where he has been ever since. As Foundation Board Chair, John has set out to help the Destinations International Foundation raise more than $5 million in contributions from destination organizations and industry partners through our Annual Investment Campaign over the next three years. This unprecedented investment will fuel groundbreaking research projects, create and launch new comprehensive advocacy tools and double down on fostering a diverse leadership pipeline for our sector. John has also set out to be an effective cheerleader for volunteers and staff, as well as a champion for encouraging smaller destination organizations to get more involved in our organization. To learn more about how to get involved with the Destinations International Foundation, contact Mary Bramley, Senior Manager of Foundation Development, at mbramley@destinationsinternational.org. Destinations International, the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) and Tourism Economics have partnered to produce the Local & Public Events (LPE) Module for the Event Impact Calculator (EIC), providing destinations with the tools they need to evaluate all types of events occurring at a stand-alone facility. The new module will be available starting in November for CVBs and Convention Centers. TO LEARN MORE, CONTACT OUR PRODUCT ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT ELAINE ROSQUIST, CMP Senior Director of Product Engagement erosquist@destinationsinternational.org ALYSSA POULIN, CTA Product Engagement Manager apoulin@destinationsinternational.org EVENT IMPACT CALCULATOR Total subscribers across all modules: 272 Total subscriptions across all modules: 576 How much are events worth to your destination? Get the tool quantifying the economic importance of events to make a strong case for continued destination marketing. For more information, to join an informational webinar, or to subscribe, visit: destinationsinternational.org/event-impactcalculator. 5

6 MEMBERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS DESTINATION MEMBERS Total Destination Organization Members: 531 Total Destination Professional Members: 5,657 New Members Since June 2019: Montgomery County VA Regional Tourism Office Clay County CVB (MO) Montgomery County (IN) Visitors & Convention Bureau Tourism Barrie Tourism Burlington 47 Business Members BUSINESS MEMBERS 6 New Business Members in Q New Business Members Since June 2019: Bellweather Agency Brad Weaber Consulting Group, LLC Greenberg Traurig, LLP HootBoard OmniVirt Orange142 Our Membership Engagement Department wants to ensure you have full access to the network of people, ideas, products and services your investment in Destinations International affords you. We invite you to schedule a one-on-one webinar with your team. Let us show you how to connect with your peers, find the latest industry research and resources to fuel your destination and individual success. In this brief but comprehensive webinar, you will learn how to gain access to everything you care about including: Everything you need to know regarding our industry news. Access to our online Member Forum for peer-to-peer connections, career development and mentorship. Research-focused and relevant data. Professional development that is discipline-focused for every level of the organization. DOWNLOAD THE COMPLIMENTARY DESTINATIONNEXT FUTURES STUDY The Destinations International Foundation is pleased to present the 2019 DestinationNEXT Futures Study, a strategic road map for the next generation of global destination organizations. The technological advancements within our industry are rapidly increasing the pace of change and are creating many new opportunities. Destination leaders must continuously look to the future to remain relevant, and utilizing this study will support your organization in that effort. More than 520 industry and community leaders in 55 countries participated in the 2019 DestinationNEXT global survey to help identify the top trends and strategies in our industry. The results show a much greater emphasis today on destination management and community advocacy. The 2019 Futures Study focuses on three transformational opportunities destination stewardship, community alignment and digital conversion to help destination leaders formulate strategic decisions for the future. We believe that destination leaders need to leverage all three of these opportunities collectively to effectively lead their organizations. We invite you to read through and study the report with your team and use the findings to guide your destination organization into a successful future. You may find the report on our website at destinationsinternational.org/ reports/destinationnext-futures-study. For more information, or to join a monthly informational webinar, visit: destinationsinternational.org/member-webinars. To schedule a personalized team engagement webinar, please contact Kate Skidmore, Senior Director of Membership Engagement, at kskidmore@destinationsinternational.org. Practical actions and strategies for destination organizations sustainable success in a dramatically changing world. Learn more at destinationsinternational.org/ reports/destinationnext-futures-study. 6 Destinations International Member Update

7 UPCOMING EVENTS Fall Learning Week November 9 12, 2019 Madison, WI, USA Advocacy Summit November 12-14, 2019 Madison, WI, USA Convention Sales & Services Leadership Forum December 16, 2019 Chicago, IL, USA CDME Courses February 1-5, 2020 Washington, DC, USA Spirit of Hospitality February 4, 2020 Washington DC, USA Destination Showcase February 5, 2020 Washington, DC, USA CEO Summit April 6-8, 2020 Palm Springs, CA, USA CMO Summit April 26 28, 2020 Seattle, WA, USA CDME Courses July 10-13, 2020 Chicago, IL, USA 2020 Annual Convention July 13 15, 2020 Chicago, IL, USA LIVING THE LEXICON MAKE YOUR PLEDGE INVEST IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF DESTINATION ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE WORLD Our advocacy team has been rolling out what we call the cornerstone of destination organizations, where we advocate for CVBs and destination organizations to work on becoming a community shared value. Jack Johnson, our Chief Advocacy Officer, presented to all of our 2019 Annual Convention attendees during a keynote session. We also continue to expand our key words in our New Tourism Lexicon vocabulary. You may find this list below. As we continue to work with destination organizations on this new strategy of becoming a community shared value, we have been inspired by destination organizations that are finding creative ways to be a public good in the communities they serve. These destination organizations have adopted the tourism lexicon and have begun shifting their efforts to be seen as a common good for their community. We have been learning their stories and documenting them with our new Living the Lexicon series, which is an in-depth Q&A with destination organizations that find creative ways of being a common good towards the community they serve. To view the current list of destinations we have interviewed, please visit destinationsinternational.org/living-lexicon. If you would like to be featured and feel your destination organization is living the lexicon, please reach out to us at advocacy@destinationsinternational.org. The Destinations International Foundation has never been one to sit still for too long. Over the last three years, the Foundation has diligently worked on research, advocacy and policy briefs. For those of you who joined us at the 2019 Annual Convention in St. Louis, you caught a glimpse of where the Foundation is going. Radically looking at the operations and goals, in February the Foundation embarked on a six-month journey to present a three-year projectbased Annual Investment Campaign. Our goal is to raise $5 million in contributions from members and industry leaders. Your investment will fuel groundbreaking research projects, create and launch new comprehensive advocacy tools for communities of all sizes and double-down on fostering a diverse leadership talent pipeline for our industry. This is an ambitious goal but one that can be achieved if we harness our sector s creativity, experience and collective knowledge. Through your support, you are inspiring exploration, training new talent and encouraging the exchange of ideas. Your gift has a real impact on the future of our industry, whether it is through scholarship or innovation. As we see the role of destination organizations in communities being questioned, it has never been more critical to make your pledge to ensure our place locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is here to help our industry transform approaches, incubate actionable tools and to build our leadership capacity so that we can stay ahead of industry threats, maximize future opportunities and excel as leaders in our industry and communities. We hope that you will join us in making an investment in destination organizations worldwide and our future. To make your pledge today, contact Mary Bramley, Senior Manager of Foundation Development, at mbramley@destinationsinternational.org. 7

8 YOUR EVENT BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE DESTINATION. DESTINATION SHOWCASE Register now! PRESENTED BY FEBRUARY 5, 2020 WALTER E. WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER WASHINGTON, D.C. For more information, visit: destinationsinternational.org/showcase CONNECT WITH Please remember to recycle me M Street, NW, Suite 500 Washington, D.C