CONTENT DEVELOPMENT & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 2025
Destinations International (DI), the global association for destination professionals, elevates tourism by educating, equipping, empowering and connecting its members to better fulfill their missions and achieve positive results around the world.
Does your organization participate in an innovative initiative that you want to share with the Destinations InternationaI (DI) membership? Take advantage of this opportunity to submit your thought leadership to be featured on the Destinations International website, social media platforms and more! Your ideas will help our membership to exchange bold ideas, connect innovative people and elevate tourism to its highest potential. See below ways to submit ideas: Submit Your Thought Leadership
Do you have something cool going on in your destination? Whether it’s an innovative initiative, a success story or a challenge overcome, we want to hear about it! Your insights can inspire fellow members and help shape the future of of the travel and tourism industry.
Do you have a case study that you would like to share with us?
Do you want to submit a blog to be featured in our DI Blog? We encourage you to contribute to our DI blog and share your insights. Please follow our current content themes (page 3) and content guidelines (page 4) to ensure your submission aligns with our standards.
Share your destination’s innovations, successes or
challenges. Your experiences and insights will empower other members, spark new ideas, highlight bold solutions, and help shape the future of our industry.
Yes, I have something to share!
Yes, I have a great case study!
Yes, I’d like to submit a blog!
Do you want to be featured on DI’s Social Media?
Speaking Opportunities at DI events and Other Industry Events The call for speakers for our 2025 DI events is closed, applications for 2026 will open in late 2025. Access the Speaker Directory
Educational Institutions- Are you or your students working on anything exciting to share? We encourage you to share innovative tourism projects or research. Your insights are valuable in inspiring all our members and shaping the future of destination leadership and innovation.
Share your destination’s accomplishments with us! Send images, videos or highlights, and you may be featured on DI’s social media. By submitting, you grant us permission to showcase your content across our platforms.
Need DI’s Staff expertise? Request a DI Speaker
Yes, I’d like to be featured!
Yes, I have something to share!
Destination organizations positively impact local communities as a dynamic place to visit, live and work.
Five Content Themes
Destinations International has identified five content themes for destination organizations in 2025 . These content themes highlight the key areas destination organizations must prioritize to address industry trends, navigate destination-specific challenges and drive success. These themes shape our events, research, partnerships and product development to provide targeted support. Members can use them as a guide to identify resources within our offerings that will best support their efforts in these critical areas, ensuring their destination’s success. These topics apply to destination organizations of all sizes and locations, offering a strategic framework while allowing flexibility to adapt to current events as they arise. We invite you to review these themes and consider how you may share insights with your peers—whether presenting at an industry event, publishing on our blog, or working with us on a special project. Click the links below to explore additional topics for each content theme.
Community Alignment & Engagement Destination organizations act as brand stewards, working to build the reputation of their destination as a great place to live, work, visit and invest, while delivering the benefits of travel promotion so the community thrives. Learn More
Destination Development Destination organizations plan, create and manage tourism activity in a way that enhances visitor experiences, contributes to the local economy and ensures long-term sustainability. Learn More
Success Measurements Destination organizations share clear and impactful data to demonstrate their contributions to the community. Identifying and applying meaningful metrics enables them to refine strategies and maximize their contributions. Learn More
Destination Stewardship Destination organizations elevate resident quality of place by managing a sustainable visitor industry, promoting equitable economic opportunities and helping preserve the community’s history, cultures and environment. Learn More
Technology & Digital Marketing Destination organizations harness the next generation of technological advancements so they can most effectively contribute to the success of their communities. Learn More
Destination organizations positively impact local communities as a dynamic place to visit, live and work.
Thank you for your interest in writing for the Destinations International Blog . All submissions must provide insights centered around at least one of the previously mentioned content themes AND include actionable takeaways that destination organizations can implement. Case studies and actionable examples produced by or in partnership with a destination organization are key to engaging the blog audience. DI reserves the right to decline submissions that do not adhere to the blog guidelines, edit the headline and summary for spacing and content as well as edit for length, style, accuracy and material. Blogging Guidelines
🔸 Membership : Blog contributors are DI members, business members, or partners.
🔸 Themes : Take a thought-leadership approach and address at least one of the DI content themes. Include actionable takeaways and feature at least one destination example. The author will seek approval from any destinations featured. Products and services may be discussed only if there is a clear intent to educate, not to sell. 🔸 Social impact lens : respectful and addressing diverse perspectives, experiences and voices. Blog should address a diverse and global audience.
🔸 Length : Blog posts between 600 and 1,000 words convey information best.
🔸 Content : The author will fact-check and spell-check all content prior to submission to DI.
🔸 Original work : The content is original work created specifically for the DI blog. It does not infringe any trademark, copyright, proprietary right, or any right whatsoever, and it contains no other unlawful matter. 🔸 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage : If AI was used to support the creation of this blog, it must be reviewed by a human for accuracy. 🔸 Due Date : Draft posts are due five days before the agreed publication date. DI makes any necessary edits to the blog before publishing. 🔸 Social Media and Sharing : After your blog post is published, share it on social media and/or in newsletters. Be sure to tag @Destinations.International on LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram .
Submit the following with your blog post for consideration: 🔸 Author headshot (500x500 pixels minimum) 🔸 Author short bio (100 words maximum) 🔸 Minimum of two properly high resolution licensed photos or graphics 🔸 Suggested headline (60 characters maximum) 🔸 Suggested short summary (50 words maximum) 🔸 Bulleted list of three takeaways to share on DI social media
Submit your blog here!
CONTACT: Alyssa Poulin Director of Content Development apoulin@destinationsinternational.org
Thank you for your interest in presenting a Destinations International webinar . Webinars must have a thought-leadership approach addressing at least one of the content themes outlined above. Case studies or actionable examples produced by or in partnership with a destination organization are key to engaging the webinar audience. DI reserves the right to decline submissions that, at its sole discretion, do not adhere to the webinar guidelines, or edit the webinar title as well as description for length, style, accuracy and material. Webinar Guidelines Webinar Topics and Policies Our members love case studies, particularly when a partner brings a member destination organization into the presentation to share real-world examples, applications and lessons learned. We highly recommend that partners include at least one member destination organization as a speaker on their webinar presentations . New data, research, studies or publications are also common, popular topics for our webinars. Destinations International has a strict policy against sales pitches during presentations. Please ensure that the presentation is NOT a sales pitch for your company, product, or service. Webinar Dates and Structure 🔸 Partner-led webinars occur bi-weekly, typically on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month, from 11 AM-12 PM or 1-2 PM ET. Webinars may be scheduled on alternate dates and/or times if there are conflicting in-person events or other special circumstances.
🔸 Each webinar is up to 1-hour in length and is recorded. See below for the typical webinar outline:
◆ 12:30/12:45 – 1:00 PM ET – Speaker Prep : All speakers should join the call approximately 15-30 minutes before the start time to ensure all technology works properly and conduct a sound check. ◆ 1:00 –1:05 PM ET – Webinar Starts : DI staff will introduce the webinar, speakers, logistics, and housekeeping and open the topic. ◆ 1:05 – 1:45 PM ET – Speaker Presentation
◆ 1:45 – 1:55 PM ET – Q&A : DI staff will moderate audience Q&A. ◆ 1:55 PM ET – Closing : Back to DI staff to close the webinar. ◆ 2:00 PM ET – Webinar Ends
Online Learning Center 🔸 You may find a list of upcoming and on-demand webinars available for registration in the Destinations International Online Learning Center . 🔸 All webinars are recorded and archived in the Online Learning Center for up to two years for future registration, access, and viewing. 🔸 Live and on-demand webinars are free for DI members and $59 USD for nonmembers. A discount code for promotion can be provided upon request.
CONTACT: Taylor Ruoff Snider Senior Manager, Professional Development truoff@destinationsinternational.org
Speaking Guidelines CALL FOR SPEAKERS/PROPOSALS OPEN SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER
A quality presentation... 🔸 Contains practical information or a case study that will help industry practitioners gain revenue, gain efficiencies and/or meet their business objectives.
🔸 Covers a new, specific topic relevant to travel and tourism .
🔸 Speaks to one of these target audiences : ◆ Small, mid-sized, and/or large destination organizations
🔸 Does not promote products or contain any kind of sales pitch. If industry vendors are submitting a proposal, the proposal MUST include a case study and a Destinations International member speaker . Any speaking proposal focused on product promotion will be disqualified. Discussing general product categories is acceptable if there is clear intent to educate and not sell. A quality speaker... 🔸 Knows their session’s intended audience and engages with attendees. When interactivity is part of a lesson, more information is retained. 🔸 Is collaborative in every sense of the word . This includes collaborating with panelists for an engaging conversation about all angles of a topic. This also includes collaborating with Destinations International to ensure all learning objectives and deadlines are met.
🔸 Has a passion to present.
A few additional notes: 🔸 As always, participation in Annual Convention education is an unpaid, voluntary speaking opportunity. Complimentary registration is not provided. 🔸 We are interested in different session formats : ◆ Round table discussions – interactivity and collaboration aids knowledge retention and provides attendees with additional networking opportunities. ◆ Instructive presentation ◆ Panel interview or fireside chat 🔸 Educational sessions are 45 minutes long.
🔸 Submitters will be contacted about six weeks after the submission deadline.
🔸 For speaking topics and additional guidelines, visit : https://destinationsinternational.org/article/2025-events-call-speakers
CONTACT: Rori Ferensic
Senior VP of Professional Development rferensic@destinationsinternational.org
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