How Data is Shaping Tourism’s Future: Event Recap
The Marketing Outlook Forum 2025 held in Fort Worth, Texas January 27-29 centered on the theme "From Data to Destination: Shaping Tourism’s Future." Host by the Travel and Tourism Research Association, the conference featured a range of sessions led by industry experts, focusing on economic forecasts, consumer behavior, and the integration of data and technology in tourism marketing.
Trends in Vacation Type
A conference legacy presentation by Erin Francis-Cummings, President & CEO of Future Partners, explored which trip styles are likely to shape the travel landscape in 2025:
Slowcations, Skillcations, Experiential Travel, Plan-Free Travel, Sleep Tourism, Doom Tourism, Gig-Tripping, Foodie Trips, Coolcations and Solo Travel
According to The State of the American Traveler report, a majority of American travelers say they find slowcations (57%), foodie trips (57%), and experiential travel (55.9%) most appealing in 2025. Just under half (48%) are drawn to the idea of "plan-free" travel, while a similar share (45%) feel the same about sleep tourism, indicating a pervasive need among American travelers for more stress-free, restful trips.
Interested in learning more about each of these trending vacations styles? Check out this Future Partner’s post.
Marketing and Advertising Tracking
Heather Huckeba (Visit California) and Lorinda Cruikshank (Visit Missouri) discussed the vital role of primary research in shaping marketing strategies, from tracking traveler sentiment and brand health to evaluating advertising effectiveness. They explored innovative methods for measuring marketing impact and ensuring data-driven decision making.
Cruikshank shared how Missouri's state tourism office supported 32 city and county DMOs by implementing a custom survey to assess advertising effectiveness. By consolidating all counties into a single, comprehensive survey, the initiative provided smaller counties—often lacking the budget for primary research—access to valuable insights they might not otherwise afford.
Through a custom survey, Huckeba highlighted Visit California’s approach to measuring impact of paid advertising. She emphasized how brand health metrics support long-term strategic planning, while ad tracking provides real-time validation of the effectiveness of paid campaigns. She concluded that:
Measurement research has to evolve as marketing programs have become more complicated and a more fragmented media landscape.
Strong marketing measurements need to be holistic, showing overall impact, monitoring brand health, as well as providing both strategic and tactical insights.
Ensuring marketing analytics complement your overall measurement program means choosing the right research tool specific to each objective and audience to understand strengths/weaknesses of each measurement.
Resilience
The theme of resilience was deeply woven into the sessions and discussions. It resonates across the industry’s current challenges and opportunities, emphasizing how tourism professionals can adapt, innovate, and thrive in the face of rapid change and uncertainty.
Consumer and Market Adaptability
The focus on traveler sentiment and behavior provided critical insights into how DMOs can meet shifting consumer needs. This adaptability is key to maintaining resilience, as consumer preferences evolve in response to factors like economic conditions, technology, and sustainability trends.
The discussions around disability travel trends by Laurel Van Horn (Open Doors Organization) and sports tourism Jennifer Stoll (Cimarron Global Solutions) showcase how tapping into often overlooked markets are creating new opportunities for the industry to be inclusive and diverse while driving growth.
Technology Resilience
Sessions like “Can AI Self-Drive Us Into the Future?” by Robert Patterson (MMGY Global) underscore how technology can support resilience by enhancing efficiency, improving decision making, and future-proofing marketing efforts. He showcased how Discover Puerto Rico implemented an ‘Ask AI’ feature to help travels plan and reminds us “the websites we are building today will not be the same in 5 years with the integration of AI.”
Creative Resilience
Noel O’Dea (Target) stressed the importance of creativity in maintaining the vitality of tourism brands. Resilience isn't just about adapting to challenges but standing out and remaining relevant in a crowded marketplace.
Global and Long-Term Resilience
Sessions addressing the international travel outlook and hospitality trends underline the importance of building sustainable long-term strategies that help the industry endure global crises like pandemics, climate challenges, and geopolitical tensions.
All of this reminded us that resilience ensures that destinations and organizations cannot only survive but thrive in the years to come.
Industry Organization
Finally, you can’t do an event recap without mentioning the leading industry organizations that presented a plethora of data driving trends and forecasting metrics:
Economic Updates - Where Do We Go from Here?: Adam Sacks (Tourism Economics) discussed the resilience of the visitor economy and potential future challenges.
What Recession? The Economic Outlook for Air Travel and Airlines in 2025: John Heimlich (Airlines for America) examined factors influencing air travel demand and growth constraints.
2025 Hospitality Trends: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities: Chris Klauda (STR) provided a comprehensive national forecast, highlighting key factors influencing future performance.
The Outlook for International Travel: Dave Huether (National Travel and Tourism Office) discussed the current state and forecast of international inbound travel to the United States.
Reach out to W5
At W5, we’ve been supporting travel and tourism for over 20+ years. If you’re interested in learning more about visitor sentiments surveys, target audience identification research, or rebranding and creative testing studies, reach out!
P.S. Thank you to Visit Fort Worth for welcoming us to the 'Unexpected City' with open arms and southern hospitality. From armadillo racing at Billy Bob's Texas to bull riding at Dickies®Arena to Tex-Mex at Joe T Garcia’s the networking was one-of-a-kind 🤠
