Awareness campaigns collapsed from 59% to 25%: what DMOs are abandoning and why it matters

From destination brand awareness to accountable DMO strategy

From destination brand awareness to accountable DMO strategy

Awareness-led destination marketing once felt like a safe bet. When 59 percent of campaigns were top of funnel and every destination brand chased reach, few funders questioned whether this DMO strategy really aligned with resident expectations. That era is ending fast, and destinations that cling to awareness as their primary approach will lose both political capital and budget.

The latest Sojern State of Destination Marketing report (2023) shows awareness-focused campaigns falling from 59 percent to 25 percent in a single cycle. According to Sojern’s 2023 survey of more than 300 destination management organisations (DMOs) worldwide, respondents were asked to identify their primary campaign objective and channel mix over the previous 12 months; the figures cited here reflect the share of DMOs selecting “brand awareness” as their main goal. At the same time, 79 percent of North American DMOs now prioritise hotel room nights and direct revenue, while 72 percent treat economic impact as their top strategic objective in tourism management (Sojern, State of Destination Marketing 2023, executive summary and regional breakdowns, pp. 4–9). This is not a simple channel shift in digital marketing; it is a governance shift in how destination management organisations justify their existence to public and private funders.

For offices de tourisme and régions, this means the destination marketer can no longer hide behind vague brand identity narratives. A modern DMO brand must connect destination values, resident sentiment and measurable impact on local businesses in a way that is data-driven and transparent. The spirit destination you promote in campaigns must match the lived experience of travelers and the expectations of local communities.

In this context, destination management becomes the core of any credible DMO strategy, not a side project. Destination marketing, destination management and destination brand governance now sit in the same accountability frame, with the same requirement for robust data and clear reporting. If your internal équipe still treats travel tourism as a volume game, you are optimising for a world where paid media impressions mattered more than long-term destination resilience.

The steep decline in display advertising usage from 75 percent to 45 percent, and TikTok from 49 percent to 28 percent, underlines the point. Channels are not collapsing; funders are simply refusing to bankroll brand campaigns that cannot show a clear line to economic impact, visitor dispersion or sustainable tourism outcomes. The message to DMOs is blunt: brand without impact is no longer a defendable spend.

There is a useful parallel in another field where the acronym DMO means something very different. In naval operations, Distributed Maritime Operations is defined through questions such as "What is Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO)?", "Why is DMO important?" and "How does DMO differ from traditional naval strategies?" Publicly available U.S. Navy briefings, such as the Chief of Naval Operations Navigation Plan 2022 and Pacific Fleet releases on Large Scale Exercise 2021, describe DMO as dispersing forces to increase survivability and effectiveness, integrating manned and unmanned systems under a unified command. In this article, that military concept is used purely as a brief analogy: the same logic of decentralisation with strong coordination is exactly what regional tourism governance now requires.

For tourism offices, the lesson is clear: you need a distributed governance model that empowers local actors while keeping a coherent destination brand and strategy. Local businesses, cultural institutions and residents must become active nodes in your destination management network, not passive recipients of marketing campaigns. When brands inspire these stakeholders to co-create authentic storytelling, the destination gains resilience that no single awareness campaign can buy.

This shift also changes how you use content and social media across destinations. Instead of one heroic destination video, you orchestrate many local narratives that express shared destination values and a consistent brand identity, but through different voices and seasons. That approach turns travelers into co-storytellers and reduces the pressure on fragile hotspots, which is essential for sustainable tourism in both urban and rural areas.

Tourism governance models that match the new DMO economics

When 72 percent of DMOs say economic impact is their top priority, governance must evolve. Traditional tourism boards were built to push travel marketing campaigns, not to arbitrate between residents, investors and visitors across multiple destinations. The new economics of DMO strategy demand governance models that can hold these tensions without defaulting to volume growth.

Three models are emerging in European regions and North American states. The first is the classic promotional DMO, where destination marketing dominates and destination management is handled by separate public agencies with weak coordination. The second is the integrated destination management organisation, where tourism, events, convention sales and sometimes economic development sit under one management structure with shared data and a unified destination brand.

The third model, increasingly relevant for French régions and intercommunalités, is the networked DMO. Here, the regional DMO brand sets the strategic frame, but local offices de tourisme and private partners co-own the content, campaigns and visitor experience standards. This networked approach mirrors the distributed operations logic mentioned earlier: decentralised execution with strong internal alignment on destination values, KPIs and impact metrics.

Governance models: pros and cons for DMO strategy

For a Revenue and Commercial Director, the integrated and networked models are far more compatible with data-driven decision making. When hotel room nights, ADR and RevPAR sit in the same dashboard as marketing spend, social media engagement and visitor satisfaction, you can finally link paid media to real outcomes. That is why 51 percent of DMOs now focus primarily on mid and lower funnel activities, where attribution to bookings and local economic impact is clearer.

Spain’s national tourism office, Turespaña, offers a useful reference point for regional governance. In the way Spain’s official tourism organisation shapes regional hospitality and international appeal, you see a layered model where a strong national destination brand coexists with powerful regional brands that manage their own travel tourism narratives. Between 2015 and 2019, coordinated campaigns around cultural routes such as Caminos de Sefarad and the Vía de la Plata helped extend average length of stay by between 0.3 and 0.8 nights in regions including Castilla y León, Extremadura and Aragón, according to Turespaña’s 2019 balance of results (annual report, section on thematic routes and regional performance, pp. 112–125).

For French destinations, the question is not whether to copy Spain, but how to adapt similar principles to local political realities. A région-level DMO can set the overarching destination marketing strategy, define the spirit destination and coordinate major campaigns, while local offices de tourisme manage on-the-ground destination management and authentic storytelling. Clear governance charters, shared data infrastructure and joint reporting to élus and funders are the glue that keeps this system credible.

In such models, the destination marketer becomes a broker between brand and territory, not just a campaign manager. They must translate resident expectations into destination values, ensure that local businesses benefit from travel flows, and report transparently on both positive and negative impacts of tourism. This is where a strong DMO strategy can rebuild trust with communities that have grown sceptical of tourism promises.

For your équipe, the practical implication is to redesign internal processes around shared objectives rather than channel silos. Content, social media, paid media and trade marketing should all ladder up to a single set of impact indicators that include economic, social and environmental dimensions. When governance, data and brand identity align, your DMO brand stops being a logo and becomes a contract with residents and travelers alike.

From brand storytelling to data driven destination management

The collapse in pure awareness spend is not a rejection of brand; it is a rejection of brand without proof. Funders have heard one too many presentations where a glossy destination brand film is equated with economic impact, without any serious data to back the claim. The new DMO strategy reality is unforgiving toward such narratives, and that is healthy for the sector.

To stay ahead, DMOs must fuse authentic storytelling with rigorous measurement. That means every major campaign, whether focused on travel inspiration or resident engagement, is designed with clear hypotheses, control markets and agreed attribution rules. When 79 percent of DMOs say hotel room nights and direct revenue are their priority, you cannot afford to run campaigns that do not connect to bookings, spend and long-term visitor value.

Data-driven destination management does not mean reducing travelers to clicks and conversions. It means using data to understand how different segments move through your destination, which neighbourhoods benefit from their spend, and where pressure on housing or public space is becoming unsustainable. The Barcelona debate over low nightly rates and resident quality of life shows how quickly a destination can hit a social tipping point when management lags behind marketing. Barcelona City Council’s 2017–2020 tourism plan, for example, documented that districts such as Ciutat Vella and Eixample concentrated more than 50 percent of tourist beds while resident satisfaction with tourism fell below 6 out of 10 in some neighbourhood surveys (Ajuntament de Barcelona, Tourism and City Plan 2017–2020, monitoring indicators, pp. 34–47).

In that context, the real DMO question is not revenue, it is residents, as explored in the analysis of Barcelona at 15 euros a night and its implications for destination governance. A responsible DMO brand will use data to cap or redirect demand when local impact becomes negative, even if that means sacrificing short-term growth. This is where sustainable tourism moves from slogan to operational principle, and where your brand identity is tested in the eyes of both locals and travelers.

For offices de tourisme and régions, this requires new internal capabilities. You need analysts who can work with booking data, mobile location data and resident surveys, and destination marketers who can translate those insights into campaigns that shift demand to under-visited areas or seasons. Local businesses must be part of this loop, sharing their own data and feedback so that destination management decisions reflect real economic conditions on the ground.

Social media and digital marketing remain powerful tools in this model, but their role changes. Instead of chasing vanity metrics, you use social channels to test messages, refine audience segments and amplify stories from local communities that align with your destination values. Paid media becomes a precision instrument to support specific objectives, such as extending stays, increasing off-season travel or promoting lesser-known destinations within your région.

When brands inspire travelers with honest, place-based narratives and back them with transparent reporting, trust grows. That trust is an asset when you need to introduce visitor management measures, such as timed entries, zoning or pricing changes, because residents and partners have seen your willingness to prioritise the common good. Over time, this approach builds a long-term social licence for tourism that no short burst of awareness can replace.

The key is to embed this logic into your DMO strategy documents, funding agreements and performance reviews. Make it explicit that destination marketing and destination management are evaluated together, with shared KPIs that include both economic impact and resident satisfaction. When your next Sojern-style report comes out, you want your DMO to be on the side that has already made this shift, not scrambling to justify legacy practices.

Networked DMOs, local businesses and the next wave of destination governance

The most interesting innovation in DMO strategy is happening far from global capitals. Small Italian towns, secondary French cities and rural regions are quietly building networked governance models where local businesses, residents and cultural actors co-own the destination brand. These places show that the future of tourism lies in distributed leadership, not centralised promotion.

When you look at how small Italian towns are reshaping destination strategies for tourism offices and regions, a pattern emerges. Regional DMOs provide the strategic frame, shared tools and sometimes paid media budgets, while local offices de tourisme curate content, host community workshops and manage on-the-ground visitor services. This balance allows destinations to express a coherent spirit destination while respecting the diversity of local identities and expectations.

For a Revenue and Commercial Director, this networked model can feel messy compared with a single, centralised campaign. Yet it is far better aligned with the way travelers actually experience destinations, moving between municipalities, attractions and neighbourhoods that rarely match administrative boundaries. A strong DMO brand in this context is not a monolith but a federation of brands that share destination values, quality standards and data practices.

To make this work, DMOs must invest in internal governance tools and shared data platforms. Common dashboards, simple APIs and regular joint reviews allow regional and local teams to see the same data, debate the same report findings and agree on adjustments to campaigns and management measures. When everyone can see the impact of tourism on occupancy, mobility and resident sentiment, decisions about where to push travel marketing or where to slow it down become less political and more evidence-based.

Authentic storytelling is the connective tissue in this system. Local businesses, guides, artists and residents generate content that reflects their corner of the destination, while the regional DMO curates and amplifies these stories through social media, newsletters and owned channels. The result is a mosaic of narratives that brands inspire travelers to explore beyond the obvious hotspots, supporting sustainable tourism and spreading economic impact more evenly.

For governance, the critical step is to formalise roles and expectations in clear agreements. Regional destination management organisations should define how destination marketing budgets are allocated, how destination management decisions are escalated, and how brand identity guidelines apply across different destinations. In return, local partners commit to data sharing, participation in joint campaigns and adherence to agreed visitor management measures when pressure points emerge.

Offices de tourisme and régions that embrace this networked approach will be better positioned to handle shocks, whether they come from climate events, geopolitical shifts or sudden changes in travel behaviour. A distributed system can reallocate campaigns, adjust messaging and support affected local businesses much faster than a centralised structure locked into annual plans. Over the long term, this resilience becomes a competitive advantage that funders and residents can clearly see.

If this analysis resonates, share this article with your élus, hotel partners and cultural institutions to start a governance conversation, not just a marketing one. The steep drop in awareness spend is not a temporary dip; it is a signal that the era of unaccountable brand promotion is over. The DMOs that thrive next will be those that treat destination brand, destination marketing and destination management as one integrated, accountable system.

Key figures shaping modern DMO strategy

• Awareness-focused campaigns among DMOs fell from 59 percent to 25 percent year over year in the Sojern State of Destination Marketing 2023 report, signalling a structural shift away from top-of-funnel spending toward measurable impact.
• Seventy-nine percent of North American DMOs now prioritise hotel room nights and direct revenue as primary objectives, aligning destination marketing more closely with commercial performance.
• Fifty-one percent of DMOs concentrate their efforts on mid and lower funnel activities, where attribution to bookings and local economic impact is clearer and more defensible.
• Seventy-two percent of DMOs identify economic impact as their top strategic priority, placing destination management and resident outcomes at the centre of governance debates.
• Display advertising usage by DMOs declined from 75 percent to 45 percent, while TikTok usage dropped from 49 percent to 28 percent, reflecting funder scepticism toward channels that cannot demonstrate robust ROI.
• Public U.S. Navy communications describe multiple Distributed Maritime Operations exercises worldwide; this article therefore treats references to the number of exercises as illustrative rather than definitive, underscoring that complex distributed strategies require repeated testing and iteration.

Strategic questions DMOs are asking about destination governance

What is Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO)?

Distributed Maritime Operations is a U.S. Navy strategy that disperses naval forces across wider areas while maintaining unified command, in order to increase combat effectiveness and resilience against advanced threats. In this article, it is referenced solely as an analogy for distributed destination governance.

Why is DMO important for understanding tourism governance models ?

The DMO concept shows how decentralised units can operate autonomously yet remain coordinated, offering a useful analogy for networked DMOs where regional bodies, local offices de tourisme and private partners share data and strategy while acting locally.

How does DMO differ from traditional naval strategies, and what can DMOs learn ?

Traditional naval strategies concentrated forces in fewer, larger groups, whereas DMO spreads assets and integrates manned and unmanned systems. The tourism lesson is that DMOs should move from centralised campaigns to distributed destination management with shared intelligence and common KPIs.

How many DMO exercises have been conducted, and why does this matter for destinations ?

Public sources refer to numerous Distributed Maritime Operations exercises worldwide but do not provide a definitive total; any specific figure should therefore be treated as indicative rather than fixed. The parallel for destinations is that complex, networked governance models also need pilots, phased rollouts and regular stress tests.

What is the expected impact of Distributed Maritime Operations, and what is the parallel in tourism ?

DMO is expected to improve adaptability and resilience in naval operations, and the tourism parallel is that networked DMOs can better adapt to demand shocks, manage visitor flows and protect resident quality of life through flexible, data-informed governance.